as introduced in lok sabha bill no  116 of  2017 the compulsory voting bill, 2017 by shri shrirang appa barne, mp a billto provide for compulsory voting by the electorate in the country and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the compulsory voting act, 2017(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointcompulsory voting2 it shall be compulsory for every voter who is eligible to vote at an election to exercise his right to vote when called for by the election commission:provided that a voter may be exempted from exercising his right to vote—(a) if he is physically incapacitated from an illness of a serious nature and produces a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner certifying such incapacity; or5(b) if the election commission or such other authority as may be empowered by the election commission, on receipt of a request either before or after the poll, from the voter, is satisfied that there are genuine and bona fide grounds for such exemption; or(c) if he belongs to armed forces including paramilitary forces and is on active duty103 the election commission shall ensure protection and safety of all citizens who come to polling booths to cast their votesprotection and safety for voters at polling booths4 the election commission shall send a list of names of all eligible voters, who have not cast their votes, to central government or the state government, as the case may besending of list of names of voters not casting their votes to the government15 5 (1) there shall be set up adequate number of polling booths at convenient locations in every constituency of the house of the people or legislative assembly, as the case may beadequate number and spacing of polling booths(2) the polling booths shall be set up in such a way—(i) that number of voters for each booth remains same to the extent possible; and (ii) that distance between one polling booth and another shall not exceed five hundred meters:20provided that in hilly regions and desert areas polling booths may be set up according to geographical convenience and density of population6 there shall be made suitable arrangements enabling the persons deployed in connection with the polling duty to cast their votesspecial arrangements for poll staff257 there shall be made separate arrangements in every polling booth for casting of votes by senior citizens, physically challenged persons and pregnant womenspecial arrangements for senior citizens, etc punishment8 any person, who fails to cast his vote shall be liable to—(i) a fine of rupees two thousand; or (ii) five days' imprisonment; or (iii) forfeiture of his ration card, passport and aadhaar card for at least 6 months;and30(iv) be ineligible to get loan of any kind from any financial institution owned by the central government or from private sector financial institution;(v) be ineligible for entitlement to any government scheme announced by the central government or the state government from time to time:35provided that if such person is an employee of the union government or a state government or a union territory administration or any public sector undertaking owned or controlled by the union government or a state government or a union territory administration or any private sector, such person shall also be punished with—40(a) forfeiture of one month salary; and (b) delay in promotion for a period of four yearspower to make rules9 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the proposes of this act510(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made beforeeach house of parliament, while it is in session, for total period of thirty days which may be comprises in the session or in two or more following the session or the successive session aforesaid both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsthe constitution has adopted the system of universal adult suffrage to secure political justice right to vote is also provided in india under the representation of people act, 1951 it provides that every person who is, for the time being entered in the electoral roll of the constituency, shall be entitled to vote in that constituency since elections are the life blood of democratic procedure, it is via the act of voting that democratic principles are protected electoral systems are the main tools through which the notions of participation and representation are transformed into reality the main purpose of the electoral system is to transform votes cast by electors into seats in the parliament given that participation in modern states is inter-linked with the notion of democracy, citizens' political engagement is of great importance leaders are trying to legitimize their actions by creating a sense of public involvement even though different states have different ways of elections and different ways of attracting voters, this electoral deficit is a global phenomenon so, we can say there is a direct connection between democracy and compulsory voting compulsory voting is not a new concept some of the countries that introduced mandatory voting laws were belgium in 1892, argentina in 1914 and australia in 1924 countries that enforce compulsory voting are argentina, australia, austria, bulgaria, brazil, chile, cyprus, ecuador, fiji, greece, lichtensteen, mexico, nauru, peru, singapore, switzerland (one canton only), turkey and uruguay compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting daycompulsory voting system confers a higher degree of political legitimacy because they result in increased voter turnout the victorious candidate represents a majority of the population, not just the politically motivated individuals who would vote without compulsioncompulsory voting prevents disenfranchisement of the socially disadvantaged in a similar way that the secret ballot is designed to prevent interference with the votes actually cast, compelling voters to the polls for an election reduces the impact that external factors may have on an individual's capacity to vote such as the weather, transport, or restrictive employersif everybody must vote, restrictions on voting are easily identified and steps are taken to remove themcompulsory voting may encourage voters to research the candidates' political positions more thoroughly since they are voting anyway, they may take more of an interest into the nature of the politicians they may vote for, rather than simply opting out this means candidates need to appeal to a more general audience, rather than a small section of the communityapart from the increased turnout as a value in itself, arend lijphart, a renowned political scientist, lists other advantages to compulsory voting firstly, the increase in voting participation may stimulate stronger participation and interest in other political activities secondly, as smaller campaign funds are needed to goad voters to the polls, the role of money in politics decreaseshence this bill financial memorandumclause 5 provides for setting up of adequate number of polling booths in every constituency clauses 6 and 7 provide for special arrangements for persons deployed for poll duty, senior citizens, physically challenged persons and pregnant women in order to enable them to cast their votes the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees seven thousand crore would be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto provide for compulsory voting by the electorate in the country and for matters connected therewith————(shri shrirang appa barne, mp)gmgipmrnd—978ls(s3)—19-07-2017