The Difference?

November 2. Its the day of US elections. Its nothing great except for that I'm witnessing the democracy process in one of the greatest nation in terms of economy and development. Being from a developing country whose Independence is still a small child as compared to the history of US, I was expecting their process of election to be very unbiased and modern. But to my dissapointment, I think, the election process here is not as good as its there in my land. There are some differences, though subtle, are very profound.

Firstly, the elections, here, is a State subject matter not a Central subject. That means, a state is responsible from the organization to the time of result of elections. This obviously gives an edge to the ruling party or, what is called, to the incumbent.

Secondly, there is no central body for keeping an eye to the election process. Like the one we have the Election Commission. Well, this may be because, its the losely coupled states here which has its own set of rules and processes.

Thirdly, it has been ages since US got its independence and this is the one of the countries in the world which boasts of its blooming economy and still they lack Electronic Voting machines at many polling booths and rely on old age ballot papers.

Lastly, but not the least, the most absurd thing I noticed is that the counting of the votes started in the East coast whereas the people were casting the votes on the West Side. Ideally, the counting of votes must start after the poll has been closed at all the places.

I think, my country is great, when you think, that it has implemented Electronic Voting machines within 50 yrs of independence; we have Election Commissiion to look that the elections passes peacefully and unbiased. Yes, we have to be more mature in polling the votes, in chosing the candidates not merely on the basis of caste, language but also on the accomplishments and the personality of the person.