The American voting system is different but not worse

Features

Indian Elections

American Elections

Universal Suffrage

India discarded property, economic, gender and literacy criteria for election in 1950.

The US achieved the same more than 150 years ago

Federal Character

Centralises rules are created to ensure equal and universal franchise among differently governed states

States came up with their own democratic rules and customs, which limited the power of the federal government.

Provision of postal ballots

Present for a limited group like members of armed forces or foreign services; In India, they are prone to fraud and have less secrecy.

Allow early voting and mail-in-ballots, helped the elderly to cast their votes.

Workforce

In 2019, the ECI used 11 million officials, mostly government employees and security forces, mandated to follow uniform rules, for a smooth process.

America has a remarkably small number of paid poll workers, and a large number of volunteers ensure that polling happens safely and efficiently.

Complexity

Since 85% of Indian were illiterate in 1950, the election was kept simple ballot through use of symbols, non-concurrent elections, and a single question for a voting decision.

US elections, however, are multi issues, where citizens elect both for the Senate and House and local elections together.

Eligible Voters

In 2019 general elections there were 879 million eligible voters.

In the 2020 presidential election there were 224 million eligible American voters.

Citizen Engagement

Indian elections have fewer dimensions of citizen engagement than US elections.

US election ballots sometimes feature referenda on issues like decriminalizing drugs, redistricting the state, new local taxes running into many pages.