Difference between Elections in India and US

Both India and the US are the two largest democracies in the world. While the Indian Subcontinent is 70 years old, the American democracy has been thriving since the past last 240 years. The democratic system ensures that citizens of the nations have a say in who comes to power and which policies the civilians support. One of the most prominent features of both the democracies is the election systems they have. One can safely say that except for the fact that both the countries have a democratic setup, there are no similarities in the functioning of their electoral systems. Let's list some of the significant differences between the US and Indian democracies

Political parties:

The US has two prominent parties; the Republican Party and the Democratic Party which are built on a specific ideology. However, the US is not a bi-party system. There are other parties like the Libertarian Party and the Green Party which are considered to be outliers and are not that popular in the country. In the Indian system, the most popular parties are the BJP and Congress. India has countless regional parties apart from these two parties which are organized at a national level. For instance, Odisha is dominated by BJD and other local political parties apart from Congress and BJP. Even if the parties are founded on a particular ideology, they are not based on them and the economic policies are formed based on the general response of the public.

Voting system:

Both the nations have an extensive voting system. However, the US is more flexible and advanced compared to India. India introduced the EVMs only a decade ago. For instance, US elections offer the electors with plenty of options like voting at the poll booths, voting through emails and advance voting in person, etc. Comparatively, the only way someone can vote in India is by visiting the polling booth and showing a valid voter ID card. Scanning and counting of votes are done in the same way in both the countries.

Election boards:

Both the countries have election boards that conduct the elections in their respective countries. The US has the Federal Election Commission and the US Election Assistance Commission and India have the Election Commission of India. The election commission of US cannot exert its power to a great extent but the ECI has the largest power since it also acts as a quasi-judicial institution and it also deals with setting up elections, counting the votes and setting up the guidelines for elections.

Voter turnouts:

India has a relatively higher voters' turnout than the United States. For the last elections that were held in the US, the voters' turnout was recorded to be 61.8% as compared to the 66.8% turnout in 2014 General Elections for India. Also, the demographics in India and the US vary greatly. The US has a higher population of older people who have crossed 65 years of age. Also, people aged 65 or more vote 25% more than the 18-24 age group

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From the information given above, we may conclude that both the countries must learn from each other. The US can try spreading awareness in the youth regarding the importance of voting and India should make the process of voting more convenient and accessible for people.