By Maitphang Syiem
Readers might wonder what ‘First Past the Post’ implies? Well, learned citizens will definitely understand the meaning, however on a general note, in a democratic process it’s an important system which involves the eligible public to decide the fate of democracy and also the choice of governance. In simple words “First Past the Post” is one of the electoral systems practiced in the Indian electoral and democratic process. This system is also prominent in various democracies of the world. It signifies the simplest form of plurality or simple majority and in this context we the public are part and parcel of the process to exercise our constitutional rights – “The Right to Vote”. Recalling the lines from the movie Spider-Man (1962) which says, “With great power comes great responsibility,” the same resonates that voting itself has the greatest power to bring change in a democracy and indeed must be fulfilled with a great sense of responsibility. January 25 of every year is celebrated as National Voters’ Day to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established in the year 1950. This year January 25, 2025 the same theme continues which is captioned, “Nothing Like Voting, I Vote for Sure” and having the largest democracy of the world there is nothing like it because it’s a festive democratic event that has ever existed.
This 15th National Voters’ Day is also a special day for the Election Commission of India as it is celebrating the 75th year of its dedicated service to the nation and as far as the current electoral database is concerned the total electorates stands at 99.1 crore and counting. Hence we are approaching the 100-crore mark. We indeed have the largest democracy of the world and the largest democracy to exercise in an electoral process and the Election Commission of India is continuously engaged and relentlessly working on healthy enrolment of electors and as reported there are 21.7 crores young electors, in the 18-29 age group and an increase in Electoral Gender Ratio from 948 in 2024 to 954 in 2025.
The National Voters’ Day was instituted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2011, with an objective to promote awareness about voting, to encourage and mobilise participation of the eligible electors in the electoral process, to promote active participation among the youth, to increase electors registration, to promote inclusivity of electors with an emphasis on marginalized communities, women, and persons with disabilities to have equal access to the electoral process and to empower citizens to play an active role in a democracy.
This foundation day of the Election Commission of India also reminds us of the power of voting in sustaining and upholding the ideals of democracy. As concerned individuals of this great Nation we must emphasize the importance of participation in the electoral process and encourage ourselves and everyone to take pride in exercising the franchise which is an imperative duty and responsibility. Interestingly, going back to the history of Democracy it can be seen and was firstly introduced by the ancient Greek Society and historians regarded Cleisthenes, a Greek reformer, lawyer and philosopher as the man who introduced Democracy and later to be known as the “Father of Democracy”. Surprisingly the word “Democracy” is derived from a Greek Word (Dēmokratia), “Demos” meaning people and “kratia”as Rule which translates to “Rule of the People”. To our surprise even the word “Politics” has a Greek origin (Politikos) meaning “Of Citizens”. Therefore, connecting the dots, we can understand that citizens have a pragmatic and imperative role to play in a Democracy through the process of voting and if one would refer to ancient Greek society, voting was made compulsory. Furthermore, if we dig into ancient voting history, undoubtedly it was first seen in ancient Greece with its unique form of voting called Ostracism using pottery shards called ostraca, then later in Rome. Furthermore, in North America, the Iroquois confederacy practiced by the natives, in England the Magna Carta and Parliamentary Votes and during the American and French revolution the world witnessed a modern electoral system which laid the principles of universal suffrage and the representative system that we see today.
It is indeed practical to reflect upon the fact that Voting is an indispensable tool where we can deliberate rationally and discernibly. We talk about change, governance, policies etc; but many times we do land in contradictory thought processes which may perhaps deviate us from the essence and real depth of voting. As concerned citizens in a Democratic world we must realise that voting is the bedrock of Democracy and must affirm that voting is the only avenue in a democracy that enables us to express our will, our aspirations to shape the future course of governance, policies and many more that affects us. We must assert that when we Vote we are upholding the principles of justice, equality and development. The constitutional right to vote which is enshrined in the Constitution of India reminds us that democracy will sustain when every eligible elector takes part in exercising the franchise with a responsibility. The Right to Vote itself must never be undermined because it has the power of change, the power to safeguard, the power of collective responsibility, the power to uphold the ideals of Democracy.
Interestingly, Voting has become a subject of intense study it is not just a process as one would think of, but it has become a science, many scholars have come up with theories and models, to list as few “Calculus of Voting”, “Rational Choice Theory”, “Party Identification Theory”, “Spatial Voting Theory” and many more which may not be feasible to discuss in this column, perhaps political scientists may share more insights. Furthermore, a special field of study on voting and elections also exists and is referred to as Psephology and professionals are called Psephologists perhaps if someone who’s interested may dive in deeper on the subject matter.
The ideal of voting has left no void, and amusingly seen seeping into the Bollywood movies as well, so it is not just an entertainment but an infotainment. Interestingly certain thought-provoking dialogues are spelled out on the rationality of voting which have garnered quite a lot of attention. The minute long monologue by Shah Rukh Khan in the ending scene from the movie Jawan (2023) is inspiring. Perhaps one should contemplate on the iconic lines which talk about fear, social-religious and financial inducement for votes, it is a series of questions that every individual should rationally ask with a sense of responsibility and duty because every vote has the power, the value of change to take our State our Nation forward , it’s high time to overhaul our mindset and go beyond the conventional thought process by making ourselves aware of the value of every vote which will translates to all realms of development for the present and the future. Let us always go all out to make use of the constitutional right and always execute our vote with a deep faith and belief that it can foster change. We must be reminded and should invoke the National Voters Pledge which emphasizes on ethics of voting and the commitment to democratic traditions of this great nation and our collective duties and responsibilities.
(The Writer is a Geospatial Technology Expert)