Compulsory voting in national elections `not feasible`: Chawla

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) Chief Election Commissioner of
India Navin Chawla Wednesday said it was "not feasible" to
have compulsory voting in an election held on a national scale
but left it to Parliament to decide.
"If you ask me is it feasible (to have compulsory voting)
in a election on a national scale. It is not," he told
reporters here on the sidelines of the Election Commission's
Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
However, he said it was for Parliament to discuss and
debate in this regard and enact a law.
"I have to preface this by saying that it is for
Parliament to debate, Parliament to discuss, Parliament to
enact. Now, when that happens, we will see," said Chawla.
Moderating a session on 'Voter Education: New Ways and
Alliances', Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi suggested that
compulsory voting was undemocratic.
"Democracy and compulsion do not go hand-in-hand. Our
stand is very clear, voter education is the key and not
compulsion," he said.
Among the two dozen delegates from the world over, only
the representative from Thailand said that his country had
compulsory voting.
Quraishi said that he would surely like to know how the
system worked. MORE PTI