On the occasion of the 12th National Voters’ Day, Public App, India’s largest location-based social network, conducted a survey to understand how seriously Indians take their voting rights and on what factors they evaluate for which candidate to choose. This pan-India poll was conducted with a sizable data pool of over 4 lakh people. As a part of the survey, as many as 86% of respondents were in agreement when asked if voting should be made mandatory in the country.
The National Voters’ Day is observed each year on January 25 to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India in 1950. The day aims to encourage the enrolment of new and young voters of the country. The theme of this year’s National Voters Day is “Making elections inclusive, accessible, and participative.”
Indians don’t miss out on voting
Of the surveyed people, 79.5% have cast a vote at least once in their lifetime. When asked what could have been the reasons if they might have missed an opportunity to vote in the past, over half of the respondents (56.3%) claimed they have never missed out on their duty as citizens to cast a vote. While 30% of the respondents choose them being in another city as the prime reason for them to have missed casting their vote.
Vote of the public counts
Voting as a civic duty is a crucial contribution to social development by the citizens of the nation. Over 86% of the surveyed people felt that their vote makes a difference. Additionally, 81% of people trust the transparency of the current process of the country. Close to 60% of the respondents were under the age of 30, which displays the great participation and involvement of the youth in the voting process.
First research, then vote
When asked about the key deciding factor while casting their vote, the top two factors were the contesting leaders’ achievements in the last terms (34%) and detailed research of all leaders before arriving at a conclusion (31%). Among other factors were the party they stand from and their general popularity among the voters.
| Question | Answer | Percentage | Question | Answer | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Have you ever cast a vote? | Yes | 79.5% | Do you feel voting should be made compulsory? | Yes | 85.67% |
| No | 20.5% | No | 14.33% | ||
| Do you feel your vote makes a difference? | Yes | 86.38% | Do you trust the current voting process of the country? | Yes | 81.05% |
| No | 13.62% | No | 18.95% | ||
| If you have ever missed casting your vote, what has been the reason for the same? | I was in another city | 30.04% | What is the deciding factor when you are casting the vote? | Research about the candidates and then decide | 31.03% |
| I did not support any party | 7.19% | Based on popularity and word of mouth | 4.96% | ||
| I did not have information about the elections | 5.22% | Based on candidate’s last performance | 34.16% | ||
| I got lazy/ did not care | 1.27% | Depends on which party the candidate is contesting from | 11.92% | ||
| I have never missed casting a vote | 56.28% | None of the above | 17.92% | ||
| What is your age? | 18 – 20 | 15.63% | |||
| 21 – 24 | 18.72% | ||||
| 25 – 30 | 24.89% | ||||
| 30+ | 40.76% | ||||
The power of a single vote is of great importance as it is not just a symbol of the will of the people but also puts their choices into action when it comes to deciding who should be a part of their governing body. The day aims to encourage the enrolment of new and young voters of the country. As per an advisory issued to the government, the Election Commission of India has asked all the staff and officers (of the government) to take the National Voters’ Day pledge on January 25, 2022, at 11:00 am to promote democratic electoral participation.
About Public
Public App is India’s largest location-based social network with 60 million+ active users and one million videos being created every month. The app allows people to record and share happenings around them enabling real-time local updates. It is available in all major Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Gujarati and Marathi.
For further information, please contact:
Tanya Katta – tanya.katta@archetype.co | 8860529824
Sejal Mehra – sejal.m@archetype.co | 9999704140
