Universal SuffrageSounds like a ter-rible ailment ordisease that swept

across the world doesnrsquotit Nothing could be fur-ther from the truth Uni-versal suffrage is the rightof every adult citizen tocast their vote in electionsconducted in their countryirrespective of race gen-der social or economic sta-tus This is regarded as anessential component of de-mocracy

Today many take thisright for granted But uni-versal suffrage did not al-ways exist and manymovements were under-taken to reach this stage

In the earliest democra-cies like ancient Greecethe all-important right toelect who governs a coun-try was restricted to peoplewho had property and

Kavya Ram Mohan

Voices for THE VOTE

This year India will vote in its16th Lok Sabha elections Elec-tion fever has gripped the na-tion with political partieswooing people and promisingldquochangerdquo Everywhere you gopeople are talking about theelections mdash TV channels athome at workplaces and evenin colleges where there are alarge number of first timevoters

This is a good time to thinkabout why children dont havethe right to vote Most coun-tries allow citizens who are 18years of age and above to votethough some allow voting at 16(see map) It is assumed thatonce a person has reached thisminimum voting age heshe isprepared to make a votingchoice

There are however peoplewho feel that children shouldbe given a say in selecting polit-ical representatives The de-mographer Paul Demeny hasexplored this possibility De-meny proposed that parents begiven the right to vote on behalfof their children

The idea is that if childrenhave a say in electing politicalrepresentatives their concerns

will be reflected in the govern-mentrsquos policies

For instance the govern-ment may come out with betterpolicies on education chil-drenrsquos healthcare etc Whenparents vote on behalf of theirchildren they are expected tokeep the childrenrsquos interests inmind Supporters of this ideasay that Demeny voting maylead to more ldquofamily friendlypolicesrdquo And this in turn canserve as an incentive for peopleto vote

Of course there are criti-cisms which is probably thereason why no country hasadopted this system yet(though countries like Germa-ny France Austria and Japanhave discussed the idea) Somefeel that this wont be fair tothose who donrsquot have childrenAnother concern is that par-ents may vote for their own in-terests and not reflect those ofthe child Others oppose it onthe ground that children donthave civic responsibilities (likepaying taxes serving in the mil-itary) that other voters do

Today governments aremore focused on the presentand it is possible that alterna-tive ideas like Demeny votingcould bring about more future-oriented policies

How about letting kids vote

Across3 The right to vote in politicalelections (8)5 January 25 every year iscelebrated as_____________ in India (8 6 3)7 Supreme legislative body inIndia(10)8 Term referring to a legislativebody that has twochambers like in India(9)9 The constitutional authoritythat monitors the election

process in India (abbr)(3)10 Voters in a specific area orthe area itself which votesa member to the legislativebody(12)13 People in a country or regionwho are entitled to vote (10)14 Identification proof to vote inelections (5 2)Down1 The lower house to whichrepresentatives are electedin the general elections in

India(3 5)2 A woman seeking voting rightsin 19th and 20thcenturies (11)4 Proof that you have voted inIndia (9 3)6 The list of voters in aparticular state or area can befound here ___________ (9 4)11 Minimum age to vote in India(8)12 The system of voting secretly(6)

Will your parents vote in the 2014general election

Yes

NoVote by sending in your answers toschoolpollsthehinducoin (Subject Ballot Box) or vote on ourFacebook page (wwwfacebookcomthehinduinschool)

GOAN SURPRISE Congress Party members bolstered by a portrait of Indias PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru adorning their vehicle campaign during Goas first election inDecember 1963 The election the first to be held in Goa after its liberation by theIndian Army saw the Congress routed Though the party campaigned on the plank ofbeing the principal architect of the fomer Portuguese colonys liberation it got only 1seat in the 30-member Legislative Assembly Statehood and a merger with adjoiningMaharashtra along linguistic lines were crucial issues which determined the result TheMaharashtrawadi Gomantak and the United Goan parties scored landslide victoriesPHOTO THE HINDU ARCHIVES

BY NITYA MENON

Voter turnout is thepercentage of the registeredpopulation that casts its vote inan election

See how voter turnout seemsto be rising and falling Itvaries across electionsinfluenced by factors such asapathy corruption economicissues personalities policies

In the past voter turnout roseand fell sharply - but not soanymore You can see how thelsquoVrsquo shapes are getting flatterThis means the number ofpeople isnt rising and fallingdrastically but becoming moreeven

WRITE TO USWhat do you think about children being given the right tovote Send in your 100-word responses toschoolpollsthehinducoin (Subject Demeny) with your nameand details The best responses will feature in next weekrsquos PollBooth page

France 1920England 1914

A poster for the National American Womens SuffrageAssociation Suffragettes pose in front of the USCongress in the year 1913

A French poster titled ndashWomen Must Votereleased in the 1920s

On May 21 1914 over 200suffragettes and supporterstried to storm BuckinghamPalace This woman was oneof 66 arrested for publicorder offences

Meryl Garcia

The Civil Rights March onWashington DC mdash Leadersmarching from the WashingtonMonument to the LincolnMemorial 28 August 1963

President Johnson andMartin Luther King Jrat the signing of theVoting Rights Act on 6August 1965

Elizabeth Yates election as mayor ofOnehunga on 29 November 1893 ndash theday after New Zealand women had ledthe world by voting in a generalelection for the first time ndash cementedher place as a pioneer of womenspolitical rights She was the firstwoman in the British Empire to holdthe office of mayor

VASUDEVAN MUKUNTH

New Zealand 1893

CMYK

VZ-VZ

Every vote counts and pretty soon you will have yours too Thats whatuniversal suffrage is all about

The struggle for voting rights

1963 1965 The two people shown below are connected in some way

wealth In most cases thiswas a small part of the malepopulation sometimes lessthan 10 per cent of thewhole population In otherregions voting was also re-stricted based on religion

The 19th century sawmovements for universalmale suffrage ie the rightof all men to vote Francewas the first country to al-low any man to vote re-gardless of whether heowned property or not in1792

The women of the world

did not take this lightly anda slew of womenrsquos suffragemovements came up in Eu-rope and America as wellas in other countries

Many methods wereused by those working to-wards universal suffrageThe suffragists were seenas those who wanted tobring about a change con-stitutionally and the suf-fragettes as the more vocaland assertive group led inBritain by Emmeline Pank-hurst

There were also diverse

views on the reasons peo-ple supported the move-ments It was thought thatwomen voters would havea positive impact on poli-tics and this would help inpassing sensitive lawsOthers felt that that menand women should beequal in every way Aftermany years countries be-gan including their wom-en in electoral processesNew Zealand was the firstcountry to introduce uni-versal adult suffrage in1893 and other countries

began to follow suit Today most countries

allow all adults to exercisetheir franchise duringelections at various levelsSaudi Arabia which was anotable exception to thisrule where women werenot allowed to vote in themunicipal elections heldthere announced in 2011that they would be allowedto do so in the next munic-ipal elections in 2015

India awarded this rightto all its citizens as soon itbecame a republic in 1950

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s day

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lect

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Vot

er ID

D

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1913

SOURCE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

I believe thatvoting is thefirst act ofbuilding acommunity aswell as buildinga countryJohn Ensign

Compiled by ANJANA KRISHNANCrossword generated using Crosswordlabs

Compiled byKAVYA RAM MOHAN

PHOTOS FLICKRMIKE LICHT FLICKR ARCHIVES NEW ZEALANDFLICKRTHE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Identify them and tell us the connection Send your responses to schoolpollsthehinducoin (Subject Link) with your name and details