New Delhi: Expressing concern over a large number of people not exercising their right to vote in general, state assemblies and other elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) VS Sampat on Friday said no meaningful democracy was possible without people’s participation.
Addressing a two-day workshop on “Consultation with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on inclusive voting and electoral participation” here, the CEC said democracy should manifest peoples’ power as it begins with their participation.
“Almost 60 per cent electorate exercised their right to vote in the last general elections in 2009 but the remaining 40 per cent constitute a large number of people who did not vote…it’s not a happy situation,” he said.
Efforts were on to educate people on their rights and responsibilities so that they could vote in full numbers without giving any importance to creed, colour or religion of the candidate contesting elections, Mr Sampat said.
He also congratulated CSOs, involved in educating people on how important was it to vote, and said people should be made be aware about the importance of their participation in the electoral process to make it more meaningful.
Speaking on the occasion, the UN resident coordinator, Lise Grande appreciated the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections in India and said the use of EVMs provided accurate, faster and reliable results with zero errors.
Ms Grande also said the efforts should be made to reach out to marginalised people and hoped that civil societies would help them to get engaged in the country’s electoral process. (PTI)