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India’s Fight Against ‘Copying’ Candidates
In Indian politics a candidate may get his name, his symbol or party symbol copied by his rivals.
December 21, 2020
Indians wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus wait in a queue to cast their votes during the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020.
Credit: AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.
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In a first-past-the-post system, it’s all about one candidate getting more votes than all other ones. Various methods are therefore used – in India and elsewhere – not only to boost a candidate’s vote numbers but also undercut the tally of others. One concerning method used in India is splitting the electorate: a candidate or a small party may be used to tap into votes of the community which serves as the core electorate of a rival candidate. There is even a word for that in Hindi –