Importance Of Voting: How To Explain Voting To A Child (Video)

Whenever the elections are around the corner, children, in particular, have a lot of questions. Given the complexity of politics and voting, it is but natural for parents to face a difficult time explaining the process in a manner befitting a child and her young mind.

To help your child familiarize with the important democratic exercise of voting, here is a short video by Parent Circle that explains how voting is done.

Facts about voting: In detail

What is voting?

Voting is a decision-making process for a group of three or more people to reach a collective decision. The voters choose between two or more options. The option with the most votes usually wins. For example, if your child and their friends are trying to decide whether to play cricket or football, they can take a vote on it. Whichever option gets the most votes can be the game they play.

For the elections, the voters go to a polling station and choose from the available candidates during the voting period. Their votes are recorded and tabulated electronically.

Importance of voting:

It is important for a nation to have leadership in order to function as all people can't vote on every single national decision. For example, a school has a principal to lead the students and teachers and to maintain a structure in place so that there is limited chaos. A principal is probably in a better position to decide on what type of pedagogy to have in school than students are, due to their expertise. Similarly, a leader with relevant expertise is probably in a better position to make decisions about laws about transport, infrastructure, labour, etc. than a randomly chosen citizen.

What are the eligibility criteria to vote in India?

• To be at least 18 years old by the 1st January of the election year
• To have a voter ID
• Not have been officially declared to have an 'unsound' mind
• Not have been disqualified due to corruption charges
• Not be imprisoned at the time