Today was a voting day for us to choose a state government. India is the largest democracy in the world and with it second highest population in the world, fair and free elections are always a challenge. Voting has been always exciting for me as I feel being part and responsible of shaping my country's future. There are many people who complain that no candidate is good enough to motivate them for voting. There are many whose ego get hurt when they have to stand in a queue to exercise their right to vote and there are many who just don't like election system.
This morning, around 11am, I tried to go for voting. Across the street, a favorite party had set up a road side counter which helped voters to find out which room in the nearby voting booth they had to go. Lots of supporters were surrounding that booth and out of them, many were familiar faces. Our laundry guy and my motorcycle mechanic were among them and when they saw me approaching the counter, they came forward to get my info out of turn!
They are standing on street!!! Traffic flows in between...
When I reached to the actual voting booth, I saw a long queue of voters. The line was moving very slow due to the complex verification process of voters ID inside the voting room. I decided to come back after an hour. When I came back, still many voters were in queue and it would take at least 15 mins for my turn. While my turn was about to come, suddenly, a group of voters came to the booth complaining about them being refused from the voting. They were refused by the election officer as they did not have their voter ID cards. Though government had issued a notice in today's newspapers that any government issued photo ID would be allowed for the verification, this election officer refused them as he was not aware of this notification. As this struggle was going to take some time, I aborted the voting one more time and decided to come during lunch time to avoid any queue.
When I came to the booth again at around 1:30pm, there was no line at all! Only a policeman, guarding the booth!
When I entered the booth, there were few people inside but it did not take long for my turn to come. The officer verified my details and issued me a slip.
The lady next to him got my signature in a voting register and then put a "black LINE" on my left index finger.
I then went to a table where electronic voting machine was placed. Instead of a paper ballets, Election Commission of India has introduced this machine since last two elections and they have been a great success in terms of fast calculation of votes and in avoiding any mischief during vote counting. I have heard that we exported these machines to many countries.
After the voting, I felt happy about it. Whether the candidate I voted for will win or not is a separate issue but I voted for him who was the best amongst all. I voted for a party which has done a lot for Gujarat and is committed to do a lot for Gujarat.
If the current central government can finish its five years, my next chance of getting this black line will be in 2009...
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