Do you know what is 1 + 5?

This link appeared in Economic Times' website's homepage today

The poll question per-se, I am sure is not a surprise to anyone, as it is a question that keeps popping up in our country every now and then. However I was more drawn towards the simple mathematical question that appears at the bottom of the link. That is, only if you are able to answer what is 1+5, you are eligible to cast your vote for this electronic poll. This I understand is for apparently ensuring that the vote is actually cast by individuals and not by some automated programs.

However, what made me introspect a bit more is that, for casting one's vote in the actual polls of our country we do not have any such basic criteria. To be an Indian is the one and only eligibility norm. It doesn’t matter if one can read/ write or if one has behaved responsibly as a citizen or if one understands the power of his vote. In short, it doesn’t discriminate any citizen against any parameter.

While this is one of the great joys of democracy, it certainly has taken our country for a ride over the last several decades. A vast majority of our population continues to be driven by "election gifts", "familiarity" or "share-of-pie" approach to casting votes rather than relying on the candidate's capabilities/ fundamentals while exercising such an important decision.

This is definitely not to say that we do not have other shortcomings in our electoral/ democratic system. However, this particular concept of Equal voting rights for all has had one of the deepest negative impacts in our country. Given this scenario, will the concept of Differential Voting actually work better in a country like ours?

Consider the situation where votes are no longer equal in weight. Every citizen gets one vote as a right. However depending on the Citizen’s Age, Educational qualification, Awareness/ status in life, criminal record, tax payment track record etc..., his vote could actually get more weightage. The maximum weightage can be capped at lets say 5/ citizen and the exact number (between 1 and 5) is determined by a combination of the factors I had detailed above.

What this will help us achieve is that:

• Given the incentives at play, education and being a responsible citizen would be accorded greater priority and this will help us as a country to accelerate in achieving these goals
• Election results will no longer be determined by one’s ability to move masses but by his ability to make sense and perform. The political scenario could hence get cleaned up a bit as newer and more responsible politicians may enter the fray

 I know some of these parameters are quite subjective and may hence be difficult to implement. But does that outweigh its benefits?