Compulsory voting: Government denies any plans

There is no proposal under consideration to implement compulsory voting in the country, Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday."No such proposal is under consideration of the government," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written response.

He was asked whether the government has taken any action to implement compulsory voting in the country. In its March 2015 report on electoral reforms, the Law Commission had opposed compulsory voting, saying it was not practical to implement. The voter turnout for the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls was the highest ever at 67.11 per cent across 542 constituencies. Polling was cancelled in Vellore.
Voter turnout was 1.16 per cent higher than the 65.95 per cent turnout in 2014.