65% of Rajasthan's voters clueless about assembly elections

By Ragini Shree Jaipur: For those who believe elections are a matter of life and death for people and the leaders make a deep impact on their voting behaviour, here’s some food for thought. As many as 65 percent voters in poll-bound Rajasthan were not aware that elections were around just two months ago. A whopping 63 percent don’t make an independent choice while voting; their decision is influenced by others such as family and community heads. These are some of the findings of a survey undertaken by Rajasthan’s election department. The survey, the first of its kind in the state, was released late last month. The assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Rajasthan on 1 December. According to the survey, 55.48 percent of voters have decided not to exercise franchise as they don’t have faith in democracy and feel their voting would not change the system. As many as 44.52 percent said they would not vote as they did not have voter cards. The sample base for the survey was 20,000, spread across 2000 sample polling booths in all 33 districts of the state. The male-female ratio of the respondents was 54.48 percent to 45.52 percent. [caption id=“attachment_1153185” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The results of a survey have revealed that caste and community are still a major factor in Rajasthan polls. Reuters[/caption] “The survey was conducted to know causes as to why people do not vote. Findings of the survey will be kept in mind while preparing strategy for making voters aware about importance of voting,” said Rajasthan chief election officer Ashok Kumar Jain. The survey was conducted with an aim to decipher knowledge, behaviour, practices and beliefs of the electorate in the state, he added. The results of the survey reveal that caste and community are still a major factor in Rajasthan polls. In a society divided in caste identities –Jats, Meenas, Rajputs, Ahirs etc - voting decisions have traditionally been made at the community level with the khaps or caste panchayats playing a role. It has not changed much over the years as 63.92 percent of the respondents said they don’t take an independent decision. Moreover, the people contact programmes - Suraj Sankalp Yatra and the Sandesh Yatra led by BJP leader Vasundhara Raje and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot respectively– do not seem to have done much to create public awareness about the elections. A whopping 65 percent said they did not know that elections were due in the state. Corruption by political leaders figured as one of the reasons for voters abstaining from voting in the elections. Overall 79.68 percent surveyed voters felt the use of money in elections is the result of corruption in politics. Most of these voters were educated up to the level of graduate and above. Since elections are an integral part of a democracy, the survey explored the respondents’ understanding of the Loktantra (democracy). In response, 44.5 percent opined that democracy meant free and fair elections. There were 24.15 percent who described democracy as accountability of the institution, 22.71 percent termed it as power to the public, and 8.63 percent responded that it meant freedom of expression. Several reasons contributed to the general lack of enthusiasm among people about voting. When the surveyors asked some respondents why they did not vote in the 2008 assembly elections, 31.58 percent said they were dissatisfied with the system of election. Some said they preferred their daily earnings over standing in queue to vote. As many as 21.94 percent of voters said they did not find their names on the voters’ list and 10.62 percent said the booths were too far because their names were not present in the voters’ list while 10.62 percent did not go to cast votes because of the distant location of the polling booths. The picture is, however, not entirely gloomy. Of the respondents, 57.46 percent believed that elections directly reflected the people’s choice, 25.62 percent felt that elections are a means to ensure smooth transfer of power and 8.21 percent said elections ensure accountability among elected representatives.