Indian elections 2

Why we vote?
India is the largest democracy in the world. This is “Our right”.
The right to vote and moreimportantly the exercise of franchise by the eligible citizens is at the heart of every democracy. We, the people, through this exercise of our right to vote have the ultimate power to shape the destiny of country by electing our representatives who run the Government and take decisions for the growth,
development and benefit of all the citizens.

All citizens of India who are 18 years of age as on 1st January of the year for which the electoral roll is prepared can vote. An electoral roll is a list of all eligible citizens who are entitled to cast their vote in an election.
The EC - India has decided to have normally a maximum of 1200 Electors per booth. The polling booths are so set up that no voter should ordinarily travel more than 2 kms. to reach the polling booth.

SOME FACTS ABOUT ELECTION
1. The lowest number of voters in a polling station was recorded in Arunachal Pradesh in 1996 with just three people.
2. An astronomical 7,700 metric tons of paper was used for printing ballot paper in the 1998 general election.
3. A general election in India is a gigantic exercise, equivalent to conducting polls in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia all at once. So claims a report from the National Commission on Electoral Reforms that reviewed laws, processes and reforms.
4. The biggest costs are incurred on deployment of security personnel and polling staff, to set up polling stations (some 800,000 throughout the country for a general election), purchase of electronic voting machines, and issuance of photo identification cards.