The hunt for the illusive youth vote by Gursimran Khamba

If you have a conversation with urban young people about voting it usually bounces around familiar territory. The most prominent of the lot will usually joke about having answered a question on universal adult franchise in civics exams before saying, “What’s the point ya all those bastards are corrupt.  Anyway long weekend came up so we decided to goto Goa man.” Another major group talks for hours about the importance of voting and the need to change the system before coming up with excuses like not having the time to register for a voter ID card made. There are very few who take their civic responsibility personally and make sure they have an ID card, check if their name is on the rolls and diligently vote in local and national elections. Not surprising then that even in a potentially historic upcoming election in Delhi, an estimated 50% of people aged 18 and 19 will not have registered to vote.

Ever since I can remember, someone or the other has been trying to convince me to vote. In the early 1990s it was MTV telling me to “rock the vote”. I cannot begin to imagine the gigantic orgasm brand managers must have had at coining this phrase. “Not only does it comply with our essence as a music channel, we are being socially responsible despite showing content to the contrary every day!”. More recently it was Tata Tea telling me to “Jaago Re” and vote on the same principles as MTV. Right now, thanks to Twitter we have something called Operation Black Dot that has found the support of many celebrities. In between all of this lay countless drives across universities, multi-national offices each trying to convince young people that voting was important.

I can’t tell why after accounting for population growth do we still have such a large number of young adults not eligible to vote. What is disturbing however is how even something as crucial as voting has to be sold to the young urban voter in the guise of “cool”. Last year when Starbucks opened in Mumbai it was a common joke that the only way to get young people to start voting is by putting voting machines near the lattes. Why not go further. Maybe replace the black ink dot that allows young people to morally Instagram showing the world their middle finger with wristbands they wear at EDM concerts. Maybe instead of making government school employees go house to house checking records use young people’s existing Flipkart, BookMyShow or Facebook profiles to make it more painless for them to vote. Or maybe, let’s start by not treating voting as a commodity urban young adults must purchase before every election.

I feel that beyond a point, trying to project voting as cool has negative connotations for urban young people and their relationship to democracy. In the quest to find a hep language with which to communicate with young people, voting becomes just another product that they’re bombarded with on mainstream and social media. The need to vote competes on the same mind space that decides which new cellphone to buy, club to goto or university to save for. This is ultimately damaging to the sanctity of the vote and in some ways almost cheapens its power. What we need are not just cool get out the vote campaigns, but a greater education on the implications of the vote and most importantly a belief in that it means something. This starts from home, at school, the workplace and not just a few months before every election.

It’s a pity that university elections, the one time a majority of urban young people are exposed to the electoral process also ends up damaging their outlook towards the vote. Ask a Delhi University student who isn’t a political hopeful about their experience and you’re likely to hear stories of intimidation, rampant disregard for rules and wanting to stay away from the NSUI and ABVP.

Next year’s general election seems like a monumental opportunity to have a greater number of young people come out and vote. Much like the Obama – McCain election, both the Congress and the BJP are counting on this shadow majority to help them win. What remains to be seen is if the ink goes on people’s fingers or gets thrown on Arvind Kejriwal’s face.