THE EDITOR: The strength of a democracy is reflected in the extent to the people’s participation in the national decision-making.

TT is a democracy, yet participation in the voting process never exceeds 60 per cent of the electorate. Parliamentary and local government elections are opportunities for citizens to determine who will manage the destiny of the country for the ensuing years.

After each election, post mortems are done on the data to ascertain why a party won or lost. No in-depth look is done on why such a large portion of the citizenry refused to exercise their franchise. If it were to be done a list of reasons will be identified.

The data from one polling station, in the recent general election, revealed that 13 per cent of those who voted there did not have a valid national identification (ID) card. It could not have been much different at other polling stations.

The 13 per cent either had no ID card or had an expired card. Many said that “only this morning” they realised that their ID card had expired but took a chance with the driver’s licence.

It may not be too far-fetched to speculate that many of the non-voters were aware of their ID card situation and wanted to avoid the red line.

The driver's licence is already a pictured ID card. It is acceptable at the banks and government offices. Why can’t it be an acceptable ID for voting? It should be amended to contain the ID card number and be officially accepted for voting at any national election.

This is not to suggest that the driver’s licence should replace the valid national ID card. This is only a small measure but it may contribute to higher voter turnout and a greater participation in democracy.

GANESH BIDHESI

via e-mail

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