Advocates, legal experts urge citizens to exercise their right to vote
Posted on: 15/May/2016 3:14:03 PM
Although the law does not make it mandatory for citizens to exercise the right to vote, legal experts have said that it is in the interest of the country for every citizen to exercise the right. That too, without being influenced by extraneous considerations.
Say senior advocates, In India, we have adopted the system of adult suffrage which means every adult, irrespective of his/her caste, creed, race, religion or sex, shall have the voting right. Though the law does not make it mandatory for the citizen to exercise the right to vote, because of the importance of this right, in the interest of the country and also in their own interest, it is necessary for very citizen to exercise this right without being influenced by extraneous factors like bribe, caste or creed of the contestants.
The Representation of the People Act does not compel voters to compulsorily vote. Though, the right has been conferred or recognised on voters enabling them to exercise their voting rights, there is no statutory obligation on them to exercise their voting right. But, as a responsible citizen of the greatest democracy in the world, it is the constitutional obligation of voters to exercise their voting rights in the matter of choosing their representatives. In case none of the contestants are preferred by them, a provision, Nota, has been incorporated now to convey their mind that they do not prefer anyone.
A former additional public prosecutor said, It is the duty of every citizen to exercise their franchise and there is a lot of awareness in social media on the need to cast their vote. Since the elected representatives govern our country, it is imperative for us to cast our vote. It is also our duty to find out the right candidates and to vote the right party, since elections are held only once in five years. The people should be vigilant against any political party attempting to bribe voters.
