When is an election called undemocratic
Answers
Explanation:
When is an election called undemocratic?
There are three grounds which might cause me to call an election undemocratic.
Firstly if the electorate is unreasonably restricted. Denying the vote to people on the grounds of their gender, on the grounds of their race, on the grounds of their not having enough money is nowadays looked down on. But the last two have been sneaked back in in some places by placing difficulties in the way of getting registered to vote and by disqualifying those who once served prison terms for some offences. I think that you could also make a case that if the process of naturalisation is too difficult to achieve you are removing the right to vote from people who would make a commitment to the country if they could.
If the administration of the vote is not run in a manner to ensure all voters can vote and all candidates can receive the votes of as many people who wish to vote for them. In some places there are unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions on the number of voting places, how long they are open, how many voting machines there are. In some places it is deliberately made easier for the ‘established’ parties to get on the ballot.
If the information available to the electorate is distorted by the imbalance of money between the candidates and parties or by deliberate spreading of misinformation not only by manipulating social media and such modern means of rumour spreading but by such primitive means as mail shots which tell people in particular wards that their times of voting have been changed. If the entire force of the state is not brought to bear against people who use such tactics you may suspect that democracy of being corrupt. If people just shrug and say that such things happen and ‘both sides do it’ you may be certain of it.