Election Commission and Election Procedure
SYSTEM IN OPERATION It has already been explained that
two major tasks in electoral process are: (i) preparation and revision of electoral rolls; and (ii) conduct of elections. The work of preparation o f e l e c t o r a l r o l l i s d o n e b y a Statutory Officer designated as Electoral Registeration Officer under t h e s u p e r v i s i o n a n d c o n t r o l o f Election Commission. The Electoral Officer for the Assembly constituency is designated by the Commission in consultation with the Government of the State concerned. The Electoral Officer is assisted by one or more Assistant Electoral Registeration Officers. They are assisted by some officers at tehsil level. These officers attend to the task of revision of the rolls in addition to their administrative duties.
The revisions are undertaken as and when felt necessary. Any citizen who attains the age of 18 years, or whose name for some reason is not there in the electoral roll can apply for inclusion of her/his name any time in the prescribed form for this purpose.
The updating of the Electoral Roll
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3 0 DEMOCRACY IN INDIA : ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
remains closed during an election campaign after the nominations of candidates.
C
ONDUCT OFE
LECTIONSAs you know, elections for the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly have to take place every five years, unless called earlier. The President can dissolve Lok Sabha and call for General Elections before five years. So can Governors in States for Vidhan Sabha. When the new elections are called, the Election Commission puts into effect the machinery for holding an election. The Constitution states that there cannot be more than 6 months gap between the two sessions of Lok Sabha/State Assembly. So elections have to be conducted keeping this in view.
R
ETURNINGO
FFICERElection work in every constituency is supervised by an officer designated as Returning Officer who is nominated by the Commission in consultation with the State Government concerned. An officer can be nominated as Returning Officer for more than one constituency.
The Returning Officer is assisted by one or more Assistant Returning Officers. The Assistant Returning Officer is empowered to perform all the functions of the Returning Officer under the supervision of the latter except the scrutiny of nomination papers. Even this function of scrutiny
can be performed by the Assistant Returning Officer, if the Returning Officer, is unavoidably prevented from performing her/his duty.
W
HOC
ANC
ONTESTE
LECTION?
An Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is above 25 years of age is allowed to contest elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly.
For the Rajya Sabha the age limit is 30 years. Candidate for the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha should be a resident of the State from which she/
he is contesting election. A person who has been convicted for an offence under electoral laws or some criminal offences cannot contest election for a period of 6 years from the date of conviction.
Every candidate desirous of contesting election has to make a deposit of Rs 10,000 for Lok Sabha election and Rs 5,000 for Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections, except for candidates from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who pay half of these amount. The deposit is returned if the candidate receives more than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled in the constituency.
Nominations must be supported at least by one registered elector of the constituency in the case of a candidate sponsored by a registered party and by ten registered electors from the constituency in the case of other candidates. As already mentioned in reserved constituencies, the candidate
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can only be from either one of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes as the case may be.
P
OLLINGAfter the process of nomination of candidates is complete, a list of contesting candidates is prepared by the Returning Officer and ballot papers containing names of candidates and their symbols. Voting is held on the days announced by the Election Commission. Voting is by secret ballot.
Election Commission tries to ensure that there is a polling station within 2 km of every voter, and no polling station should have to deal with more than 1,200 voters. Some electors, including members of the armed forces or government of India on duty can vote by post also.
After the polling is over, the votes are counted under the supervision of Returning Officers and Observers appointed by the Election Commission. After the counting of votes is over the Returning Officer declares the names of the candidates who have received the highest number of votes as elected.
E
LECTIONP
ETITIONIf any elector or candidate feels that there has been malpractice during the election, she/he can file an election petition. Election petitions are tried by the High Court of the State involved, and if upheld, election of a candidate can be declared void, new elections
might be ordered, results can be countermanded or other appropriate decision delivered. Appeals can be made in the Supreme Court.
Candidates thus elected constitute the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies as the case may be. The anti-defection law, passed in 1985, prevents MPs or MLAs elected as candidates from one party forming or joining a new party, unless they comprise more than one-third of the original party in the legislature. If a member leaves her/his party or joins other party she/he ceases to be the member of the legislature.
India is a parliamentary democracy.
The main process to run the democracy is election. To be meaningful, elections have to be regular, free and fair. The Constitution of India on the one hand, recognises the principle of universal adult suffrage, i.e. any citizen of or over the age of 18 can vote; and on the other, makes the Election Commission, independent of Executive and Legislature to conduct and supervise elections. Elections in India are events involving political mobilisation and organisational complexity of an amazing scale; yet the record of conducting free, fair and peaceful elections has so far been remarkable.
However, in spite of reasonably high credibility of election process, the present system has developed some defects which need to be corrected through reforms. This we will discuss in the next chapter.
ELECTION COMMISSION AND ELECTION PROCEDURE
3 2 DEMOCRACY IN INDIA : ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
EXERCISES
1. How is independence of Election Commission of India ensured?
2. Describe the composition, powers and functions of the Election Commission of India.
3. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the plurality and proportional representation systems of elections.
4. Describe the procedure followed for conduct of elections in India.
5. Write short notes on the following:
(i) Multi Member Commission;
(ii) Party List System;
(iii) Delimination of Constituencies;
(iv) Returning Officer;
(v) Election Petitions.
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I
N the last two chapters you have studied that election is a corner stone of any democratic system. It gives people an opportunity to elect their own government which can preserve and protect their rights and liberty, fulfil their aspirations and create an environment in which they can develop their overall personality. However, it is essential that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner, peacefully and with dignity. As a representative parliamentary democracy, India has a well established system of elections.The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission, an independent constitutional body, the powers of superintendence, direction and control of the entire process of elections. Over the last five decades, thirteen General Elections to the Lok Sabha and nearly three hundred General Elections to State Legislative Assemblies have not only proved that democracy has taken deep roots but have also earned world wide appreciation about their fairness.
While conduct and outcome of elections in general have been hailed as a unique democratic experience during