ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION,KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES : A CASE STUDY OF UTTAR PRADESH ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2012 (INDIA)

European Scientific Journal, Sep 2014

The study of voter turnout rates, its composition, characteristics, Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, Beliefs and Practices (KABBP) is an integral part of election management by the Election Commissions throughout the World. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer-Uttar Pradesh has taken up a Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) interventions and programmebefore the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2012, to promote participation of the voter in the electoral process. The present study examines the voter turnout rates across gender groups, age groups, income groups, occupational groups and education levels in Uttar Pradesh state of India. It also attempts to assess knowledge, attitude, practices and satisfaction level of voters about various services and facilities of electoral process/election management and its consequences on voter turnout rates. The study indicates voter turnout rate of 59.48% in 2012, as compared to 46.07% in 2007 and 47.79% in General Election of 2009. The mean and median voter turnout rates recorded during 1951-2009 has been 50. I %, and 50.5% respectively,with Standard Deviation of 9.4 for the same period. However significant variations in the voter turnout rates were recorded among micro regions within same administrative constituency due to demographic, cultural, socio-economic and institutional management measures. The results point out significant impact in voter turnout rates after interventions under SVEEP were initiated by the Election Commission in 2010. The study also depicts that there is lot of gap between what the voters ‗should know‘ and what they ‗actually know‘ in important areas like registration of voter list, making of Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), Polling Station location, use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), do‘s & don‘ts with regard to model code of conduct. The results point out that persistent voter education with the kind of seriousness and depth, it deserves by the Election Management bodies should be given due and strong emphasis.

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ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION,KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES : A CASE STUDY OF UTTAR PRADESH ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2012 (INDIA)

European Scientific Journal September 2014 /SPECIAL/ edition Vol.2 ISSN: 1857 - 7881 (Print) e ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION,KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES : A CASE STUDY OF UTTAR PRADESH ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2012 (INDIA) Bupinder Zutshi 0 0 Jawaharlal Nehru University , New Delhi , India The study of voter turnout rates, its composition, characteristics, Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior, Beliefs and Practices (KABBP) is an integral part of election management by the Election Commissions throughout the World. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer-Uttar Pradesh has taken up a Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) interventions and programmebefore the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2012, to promote participation of the voter in the electoral process. The present study examines the voter turnout rates across gender groups, age groups, income groups, occupational groups and education levels in Uttar Pradesh state of India. It also attempts to assess knowledge, attitude, practices and satisfaction level of voters about various services and facilities of electoral process/election management and its consequences on voter turnout rates. The study indicates voter turnout rate of 59.48% in 2012, as compared to 46.07% in 2007 and 47.79% in General Election of 2009. The mean and median voter turnout rates recorded during 1951-2009 has been 50. I %, and 50.5% respectively,with Standard Deviation of 9.4 for the same period. However significant variations in the voter turnout rates were recorded among micro regions within same administrative constituency due to demographic, cultural, socio-economic and institutional management measures. The results point out significant impact in voter turnout rates after interventions under SVEEP were initiated by the Election Commission in 2010. The study also depicts that there is lot of gap between what the voters should know' and what they actually know' in important areas like registration of voter list, making of Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), Polling Station location, use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), do's & don'ts with regard to model code of conduct. The results point out that persistent voter education with the kind of seriousness and depth, it deserves by the Election Management bodies should be given due and strong emphasis. Electoral participation; Voter Turnout Rate; Voter Knowledge; Education; and Communication; Election management - as an important factor in the sustenance of Indian democracy, where citizens participation has improved in increasing numbers to choose their governments, election after election (Yadav, 2000). In case of India, voter turnouts have been high in comparison to several Western democracies, despite the presence of a large illiterate and economically backward population. Scholars have pointed out that The deprived seem to have greater faith in Indias elections than the advantaged (Varshney, 2000:20). Since electoral outcomes have important policy implications, it is vital to understand the degree and reasons for variation in the voter turnout rates among different spatial geographical regions as well as among different composition and social and economic characteristics groups of voters, so that focused target is given to encourage them to strengthen democratic value by excising their duty of franchise. Factors Affecting Voters Turnout High voter turnout is often considered to be desirable (Franklin, Mark, 1999, 2001, 2002). Several models have been developed by scholars for voter turnout differentials across regions, political governance systems, community composition and characteristics and existing institutional frameworks. Rational Voter Model ( Downs 1957), has been a dominant theory of voter participation in the literature for a long time, and has been extended theoretically and tested empirically by many scholars (Buchanan &Tullock, 1962; Riker &Ordeshook, 1968; Tullock, 1971; Cox &Munger, 1989; Aldrich, 1993; Feddersen, 2004). The rational choice model focuses on the costbenefit analysis of the voting decision. According to Riker and Ordeshook (1968), since a single vote has virtually no effect on the election outcome, a voter cannot be expected to vote for gaining just material benefits. Instead, the only rational reason to vote is to gain benefits such as expressing an opinion or fulfilling a duty and participate in the governance system. Thus governance trust in voter is an essential requirement for higher voter turnout. Some scholars explain the voting decision based on a habit, which in turn depends on factors such as their social status and education, income, ethnicity, rural/urban character and ease of voting. Verba and Nie (1972) put forward a model of electoral participation based on education and profession, and studies such as Wolfinger and Rosenstone (1980), and Parry et al. (1992) use this resource model in their studies of voter turnout. The mobilization model complements the re (...truncated)


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Bupinder Zutshi. ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION,KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES : A CASE STUDY OF UTTAR PRADESH ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2012 (INDIA), European Scientific Journal, 2014,