An election is a process of voting wherein the general public decides who all should comprise the governing body to work towards the nation in the representative institutions like the Parliament, Legislative bodies etc. each citizen of the country can vote after they attain the age of 18 years. The two systems, any of which can be used these days, in place for conducting elections are the ballot system (putting a ballot paper with the name of the political party written on it in a secure box) or the electron voting machines (pressing the button against the name of the preferred choice and that choice is then stored. India being the largest democracy globally, cannot escape this process of holding elections regularly and moderately. Holding elections for the whole of the population is a critical consideration to be made every time elections are held. 

Adult Franchise

Franchise (literal meaning, free) means the right for the citizens of a nation to vote and elect their representatives. Adult franchise thus implies that all adult citizens be given the right to vote and elect their representative irrespective of class, caste, gender and sex. The system of giving this right to all the adult population of a country is the very base of living in a democratic nation.As they say, in a democracy, the government is of the people, for the people and by the people. So all the three facets of this saying are essential, wherein we are currently focussing on the third facet, “by the people”. So the citizens elect their representatives to form representative institutions like the parliament, legislative assembly and others. 

Now the voting age varies nation by nation. It is 18 years when you reach a state qualified/mature enough to choose your representative in the governmental bodies in our nation. Earlier it was 21 years, but after the 61st amendment act of 1989, it has been brought down to 18 years. 

To become a voter in India, the following conditions must be satisfied:

  • Must be an Indian citizen
  • Must have attained 18 years of age
  • Must not have been declared bankrupt. 

Need For Elections In Democracy

As stated above, without genuine elections, democracy has no meaning. Elections provide the citizens with a uniformly managed way to voice their opinions and choose who and what is best for themselves and their nation. It is not that elections are a new concept in Independent India. Elections used to be held even before independence; it is just that the choices and voices were very limited at that time and the franchise may not be very fair. After independence, India chose to have a universal adult franchise and give all adults the right to have an equal vote. The first such elections were held in 1951-52. 

Importance Of Election In Democracy

The importance of elections in any democracy stems on the following basis-

  • Choice of leadership: By participating in elections, every citizen can choose their leader by casting a vote in favour of the politician or the political party for that matter. 
  • Change of leadership: As the citizens are the ultimate authority in any democracy, they can voice their opinion if they do not like the testaments of the existing government. They can change the government by choosing their following votes very carefully and giving a thought to the political party before giving them their vote. 
  • Political participation: As a responsible citizen of the country, if one feels there is an issue not being addressed by most or all of the political parties or some modifications needs to be made in their solution, they can always participate in that discussion either by raising their opinions to the governing bodies or by forming political parties themselves to bring about a reform. 
  • Self-corrective system: Due to the regularity present in the Indian election system, it acts as a kind of check on the work of the political parties, restating the fact that if the party is not efficient enough in their work, they will not form the government subsequently. Therefore political parties have a regular performance of working well to get votes from the public.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that elections form the basis of democracy and holding elections regularly and somewhat is what makes the process genuinely worth it. In a democracy, elections are needed to check on political parties as to what they are doing and make citizens responsible for their choices and nation. People of all backgrounds should be given the right to an equal vote after crossing the age bar of 18 years. This is known as the universal adult franchise.