The Compulsory Voting Conundrum: Exploring the Legal Maze of Mandating the Indian Vote

The Constitution of India bestows the right to vote on all its citizens who are above the age of 18 years and possess a sound mind, irrespective of class, caste, religion, or socio-economic status. Unfortunately, in today’s times participation during elections is considered to be an unnecessary obligation or rather a chore that can be ignored. Effort has been made in the past to introduce compulsory voting in India albeit without success. The paper evaluates the arguments for and against compulsory electoral participation and attempts to situate its possibility and legality in the current context of India’s constitutional democracy. The findings are based on comparative analysis on different cases and hold true for most democratic nations.