@prashanthamine
Mumbai: For the oldest democracy in the world, it takes four days of long drawn ballot counting process to decide who is to be the 46th President of the United States of America (USA), points to a flawed electoral system which needs urgent overhaul after 231 years (US Constitution came into effect in 1789). After a bitterly fought election campaign and four days of acrimonious legal battles, Democrat Joe Biden has finally made it to the White House.
As compared to that we in India in the last 73 years have perfected an electoral system that delivers results in time. Though sometimes results are not to everybody’s liking. But that has not led to post-poll rioting that is being witnessed now in the US.
Though many argue that the US Presidential electoral system is one of the easiest to understand, it is farther from the truth given the fact that recent elections that have been mired in controversies. Be it the 1948 Harry S Truman’s election, the 2000 election of George W Bush or even the 2016 election of Donald J Trump they have been subject of intense criticism. In most of the cases, everybody from the pollsters to the media has got it horribly and embarrassingly wrong. The ongoing 2020 US Presidential election being no different either.
In the US, the states have their own local electoral laws that empower the Governor (in India – the Chief Minister) to oppose recounts in US presidential elections. Many states have their own set of laws related to the Presidential elections, where often winner takes all the Electoral College votes if he gets certain number of Popular Votes. In US terminology the candidate carrying the state with him.
But that notion was broken by Trump himself in the 2016 elections. Despite not getting the maximum Popular votes, he still managed to win the Presidency on the basis of flawed Electoral College vote count. The smoking gun of the Russian involvement in that election still continues to smolder to till this day in the form of the Robert S Muller III report.
Just like the Biden-Ukraine alleged controversy involving Biden’s son Hunter Biden being employed by Ukrainian gas company Burisma when his father was the Vice President of USA in 2009 during the Obama presidency years. Besides that the accusations of electoral fraud since 2000 elections have badly damaged the image raising serious doubts over the fairness of the electoral system.
In sharp contrast to that Lok Sabha elections and recent elections to the state assemblies have been relatively less controversial. The electorate has often voted for different political dispensations both at the center and in the state and often given hung verdicts in a bid to ensure that no one has a free run. The Indian voter has been far wiser when it comes to casting his vote and has often caught the pollsters on the wrong foot.
The pollster predictions for Bihar yet again point towards a hung assembly with Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led JD-U-BJP alliance. Just like the mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic costing Trump his re-election, it does appear that for the JD-U-BJP combine the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of migrant labourers issue, the snail paced investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, not changing the face of the campaign and anti-incumbency factor appear to have hurt the JD-U-BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Both the elections serve as a grim reminder to all those in power that if they fail to deliver welfare and development on time, and, do not stop indulging in reckless statements and actions, it can only generate the anti-incumbency factor that leads to their eventual exit from power.
