The election is a very important process in the democratic system. People can choose their favorite candidates or party to form their government. Citizens can play a very important forel in the election. Let’s discuss the role of citizens in the election.
Roles of Citizens In the Election
1. Every Year the electoral roll is prepared and updated. The electoral roll is the list of eligible voters in which a detail of each voter is mentioned like name, address, age, father’s or husband’s name, etc. It is prepared by the Election Commission. The updated and revised electoral roll includes those who have attained 18 years of age. This list is in a printed form and kept in all wards of VDC and municipalities. It is the duty of every citizen to consult this list and make sure that his/her name is included according to their address or age.
2. If there is an error in the name, age, address, etc, he/she has to inform the concerned authority.
3. There may be the name of a person in the electoral roll who is already dead, migrated to other places or a woman married and gone to her husband’s home, or someone who is not a citizen of Nepal. Then a citizen of Nepal. Then a citizen can help the commission to correct such errors. In this way, a citizen can help the Election Commission before the election.
4. It is a duty of a citizen to encourage everyone in the neighborhood to go to the polling center on the day of the election to cast their vote. When we go to cast the vote, we should stay in a queue and wait for our turn. After taking the ballot paper from the polling officer of the concerned authority, we should see the symbol of the candidate carefully and put the stamp in the right place otherwise it can be invalid.
5. It is the duty of every citizen to cast the vote in the election. When we go to cast vote we should choose the right candidate who is honest, active and energetic, who can develop the country and work for the welfare of the common citizen. We should not pay attention to caste, race religion, relation or personal benefits. Out one vote can make the wrong person win. If the corrupt people reach the government, corruption, lawlessness may increase which may create political instability in the country. Therefore, we should give votes to the good candidate and the right political party. At the same time, we should also study the manifesto of the political parties before going to cast the vote.
6. We should not cast votes in another’s names. To check the proxy vote, the Election Commission has a system of voter’s identity cards. In the election of the Constituent Assembly, the Election commission has used an electronic voting machine. Such a machine helped to make the poll impartial. We can sensitize illiterate people about the method of casting votes. The school’s children can help to correct the electoral roll. They also can help the physically challenged or aged people to cast the vote. Every vote is very important in the election so the citizen should be alert to check the invalid vote. If one percent vote is invalid among then a million votes, hundreds and thousands of votes will be wasted.
Above mentioned points are the role of citizens in the election. If the people participate caring above points then the election can be transparent. The only transparent election can take the right leader to the top otherwise corrupt people enter the political system.