Vote, It’s Our Right! But Whom Should I Vote For?
Moodbidri/Mangaluru: I was looking for a simple checklist or test requiring a yes or no answer – based on the values and principles of democracy and liberty – on choosing the right candidate and party to vote for but I have not been able to find one. Hence I have created one which I hope will be of assistance to other voters too. I’ve tried to keep it concise and not voluminous and pertaining to day-to-day problems faced by the common man.
Both quantity and quality of voting being necessary, it is the quality that matters most over the quantity.
e.g.: You may relate these 2 examples to the quality of voting:
(1) one may send someone to the market to buy vegetables, fish or meat. But if he/she has no idea between: fresh and stale, raw and ripe, frozen or fresh, how to check whether a fish is fresh, how to check whether the fruits or vegetables will not rot within a day instead of lasting for 3 -4days etc.; then obviously the choice and quality of the food bought will be left entirely at the mercy of the morality of the seller and the ignorance of the buyer.
(2) send someone to buy a certain brand of medicine and not educate him on checking the brand or generic names , checking the date of manufacture and expiry, comparing costs between brands, etc.; then obviously the medicine bought may either be expired or of an overdose or underdose or expensive, etc. and may not be suitable to the patient.
Between the age of 18 to 100, as an Indian citizen, you get only 17 chances in 100 years to democratically choose your representative to run your government, on your behalf, so as to try to improve your living conditions. It is possible that out of 17 attempts 14 may fail to obtain the results you desire and only 3 attempts in 100 years may achieve successful results! That means only 15 attempts in 500 years may achieve successful results, to solve a million problems faced by your country!
If the quality of voting does not improve then there is little hope for the quality of governance to improve, during your lifetime. You will have to live with the sub-standard, past expiry date, primitive-minded politicians and govt. services just like if you had chosen to buy rotten tomatoes and expired medicines. Remember that, nowadays, due to competition among private companies, you can always change and choose the best private-service provider and seek better service but when it comes to government offices and services you have no choice.
Following are the things you should consider about the candidate (apply the same to the party) before you cast your vote and if the answer to any is “Yes” then do not vote for him/her:
The user may add or delete points to suit his/her needs.
In arriving at your opinions and choices you should be guided by the awareness of current events from the press and other forms of media. Never believe all that the press and media say. Always think for yourself whether or not what is in the news can or cannot be true. Also, take the trouble to find out what other media houses are saying about the same issue, then put 2 +2 together and arrive at your own opinion and conclusions.
Apply this checklist for each of the contesting candidates and parties.
After you have gone through all the points and answered “Yes” or “No”. Then for each of the candidate add up the number of “Yes”. The candidate who gets the highest number of “Yes” is the worst candidate (means – Yes he is a bad candidate)and therefore should not be voted for. Similarly, check each candidate. Remember you are choosing somebody to represent you and to look after your interests in the Assembly, Parliament or Panchayat, etc.
If you cannot find a suitable candidate or party then still please vote but vote for NOTA. This will send a warning message to the political parties to field better candidates next time.
To help you in your research you may use the following websites:
Election Commission of India http://eci.nic.in/eci/eci.html
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer http://164.100.80.163/ceo3/hm_ec.aspx
Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) https://adrindia.org/
Nationla Election Watch (ADR) http://www.myneta.info/
by: Melroy C Fernandes- Moodbidri {Social Activist}
Author’s Declaration: “Whom should I vote for? – a checklist” containing attachments – Introduction, Instructions for Test A, Test A & Test B is entirely my original writing. I have not copy-pasted or plagiarized any work by somebody/anyone else. I take full responsibility for my writing. I have gone through the Election Model Code of Conduct and do not consider my writing to be in contravention of any of its provisions. In fact, this writing is in accordance with the SVEEP of the ECI, meant to educate voters.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in the above article are solely those of the author. Mangalorean.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
TO BE CONTINUED AS PART II…….
just do not go by the colour of party flag. look at the candidate before you vote. There are very calm and quiet candidates; they can do miracles when in power rather than voting for hyped up candidates.