Saturday, April 29, 2006

The Power Of Democracy!!

Saw this news story on CNN-IBN this evening. Assembly elections are on in Kerala and in one booth, situated about 2500 mts above Mean Sea Level (MSL) and 60 km from Calicut, there is only one registered voter. This is a remote location nestled among the forests and for just one voter, there are four election commission officials and two security men sitting there from 7 am in the morning waiting for this one man to come and cast his vote. This practice has been going on for years and usually, he comes by 4 in the evening to cast his vote. This time, he had promised to come earlier and it was a funny sight, seeing these officials wait patiently.

He finally came, or rather, the IBN team had to go into the forests to bring him along, and when asked why he insists on voting at this particular election booth, he says that he pays taxes to the government and is justified in his actions. Incidentally, the law is on his side as well, as it states that a polling station should be within a 1.5 km radius of the voter's residence.

Such is the power of democracy! Even a single vote matters ! So, if you guys are reading this and are yet to get voter ID's, please do so ASAP. Your vote might win or lose an election for someone !

Cheers

3 comments:

S said...

wow!!!

that man sure is one of a kind!! :D

S said...

hey.. i saw it too.. yup its amazing! and it kind of reinforces your faith in democracy

mizarukikazaruiwazaru said...

hey...well haven seen t thing on CNN -IBN...well dono if this bodes well for democracy ( hehe...wouldn it be ironical if t voter is a die hard communist!!!!!!)...well what is clear is that to get t vote of one jackass... taxpayers have to keep t hearth of all t 4 officials burning...think just felt adam smith turning in his grave :)