Introduction
Electoral Laws & System
A
Constitutional Body
Appointment & Tenure of Commissioners
Transaction
of Business
Election Machinery
Budget
& Expenditure
Executive
Interference Barred
Election
Schedule
Indian Elections, the Largest Event in the World
Political Parties & the Commission
Advisory Jurisdiction & Quasi-Judicial Functions
Judicial Review
Media Policy
International
Co-operation
New Initiatives
Introduction
India is a Socialist,
Secular, Democratic Republic and the largest democracy in the World. The
modern Indian nation state came into existence on 15th of August
1947. Since then free and fair elections have been held at regular intervals
as per the principles enshrined in the Constitution, Electoral Laws and
System.
The Constitution of India has
vested in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction
and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and
Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and
Vice-President of India.
Top
Electoral
Laws & System
Elections are conducted
according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by laws made by
Parliament. The major laws are Representation of the People Act, 1950, which
mainly deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 which deals, in detail, with all
aspects of conduct of elections and post election disputes. The Supreme
Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are silent or make
insufficient provision to deal with a given situation in the conduct of
elections, the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the
Constitution to act in an appropriate manner.
Top
A
Constitutional Body
Election Commission of India
is a permanent Constitutional Body. The Election Commission was established
in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950. The
Commission celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2001. For details, please click
here.
Originally
the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It currently consists
of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
For the first time two
additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but
they had a very short tenure till 1st
January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993 two additional Election
Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has
been in operation since then, with decision making power by majority
vote.
Top
Appointment
& Tenure of Commissioners
The President appoints Chief
Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. They have tenure of six
years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They enjoy the
same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the
Supreme Court of India. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from
office only through impeachment by Parliament.
Top
Transaction
of Business
The Commission transacts its
business by holding regular meetings and also by circulation of papers. All
Election Commissioners have equal say in the decision making of the
Commission. The Commission, from time to time, delegates some of its
executive functions to its officers in its Secretariat.
Top
Election Machinery
The Commission has a separate
Secretariat at New Delhi, consisting of about 300 officials, in a
hierarchical set up.
Two
or three Deputy Election
Commissioners who are the senior most officers in the Secretariat assist the
Commission. They are generally appointed from the national civil service of
the country and are selected and appointed by the Commission with tenure.
Directors, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries, Under Secretaries and
Deputy Directors support the Deputy Election Commissioners in turn. There is
functional and territorial distribution of work in the Commission. The work
is organised in Divisions, Branches and sections; each of the last mentioned
units is in charge of a Section Officer. The main functional divisions are
Planning, Judicial, Administration, Information Systems, Media and
Secretariat Co-ordination. The territorial work is distributed among
separate units responsible for different Zones into which the 35 constituent
States and Union Territories of the country are grouped for convenience of
management.
At the state level, the
election work is supervised, subject to overall superintendence, direction
and control of the Commission, by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State,
who is appointed by the Commission from amongst senior civil servants
proposed by the concerned state government. He is, in most of the States, a
full time officer and has a small team of supporting staff.
At the district and
constituency levels, the District Election Officers, Electoral Registration
Officers and Returning Officers, who are assisted by a large number of
junior functionaries, perform election work. They all perform their
functions relating to elections in addition to their other responsibilities.
During election time, however, they are available to the Commission, more or
less, on a full time basis.
The gigantic task force for
conducting a countrywide general election consists of nearly five million
polling personnel and civil police forces. This huge election machinery is
deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission and is subject to its
control, superintendence and discipline during the election period,
extending over a period of one and half to two months.
Top
Budget
& Expenditure
The Secretariat of the
Commission has an independent budget, which is finalised directly in
consultation between the Commission and the Finance Ministry of the Union
Government. The latter generally accepts the recommendations of the
Commission for its budgets. The major expenditure on actual conduct of
elections is, however, reflected in the budgets of the concerned constituent
units of the Union - States and Union Territories. If elections are being held
only for the Parliament, the expenditure is borne entirely by the Union
Government while for the elections being held only for the State
Legislature, the expenditure is borne entirely by the concerned State. In
case of simultaneous elections to the Parliament and State Legislature, the
expenditure is shared equally between the Union and the State Governments.
For Capital equipment, expenditure related to preparation for electoral
rolls and the scheme for Electors' Identity Cards too, the expenditure is
shared equally.
Top
Executive
Interference Barred
In the performance of its
functions, Election Commission is insulated from executive interference. It
is the Commission which decides the election schedules for the conduct of
elections, whether general elections or bye-elections. Again, it is the
Commission which decides on the location polling stations, assignment of
voters to the polling stations, location of counting centres, arrangements
to be made in and around polling stations and counting centres and all
allied matters.
Top
Election
Schedule
The Commission normally
announces the schedule of elections in a major Press Conference a few weeks
before the formal process is set in motion. The Model Code of Conduct for
guidance of candidates and Political Parties immediately comes into effect
after such announcement. The formal process for the elections starts with
the Notification or Notifications calling upon the electorate to elect
Members of a House. As soon as Notifications are issued, Candidates can
start filing their nominations in the constituencies from where they wish to
contest. These are scrutinised by the Returning Officer of the constituency
concerned after the last date for the same is over after about a week. The
validly nominated candidates can withdraw from the contest within two days
from the date of scrutiny. Contesting candidates get at least two weeks for
political campaign before the actual date of poll. On account of the vast
magnitude of operations and the massive size of the electorate, polling is
held at least on three days for the national elections. A separate date for
counting is fixed and the results declared for each constituency by the
concerned Returning Officer. The Commission compiles the complete list of
Members elected and issues an appropriate Notification for the due
Constitution of the House. With this, the process of elections is complete
and the President, in case of the Lok Sabha, and the Governors of the
concerned States, in case of State Legislatures, can then convene their
respective Houses to hold their sessions. The entire process takes between 5
to 8 weeks for the national elections, 4 to 5 weeks for separate elections
only for Legislative Assemblies.
Top
Indian
Elections, the Largest Event in the World
Conduct of General Elections
in India for electing a new Lower House of Parliament (Lok
Sabha) involves management of the largest event in the world. The electorate
exceeds 670 million electors in about 700000 polling stations spread across widely
varying geographic and climatic zones. Polling stations are located in the
snow-clad mountains in the Himalayas, the deserts of the Rajasthan and in
sparsely populated islands in the Indian Ocean.
Top
Political
Parties & the Commission
Political parties are
registered with the Election Commission under the law. The Commission
ensures inner party democracy in their functioning by insisting upon them to
hold their organizational elections at periodic intervals. Political Parties
so registered with it are granted recognition at the State and National
levels by the Election Commission on the basis of their poll performance at
general elections according to criteria prescribed by it. The Commission, as
a part of its quasi-judicial jurisdiction, also settles disputes between the
splinter groups of such recognised parties.
Election Commission ensures a
level playing field for the political parties in election fray, through
strict observance by them of a Model Code of Conduct evolved with the
consensus of political parties.
The Commission holds
periodical consultations with the political parties on matters connected
with the conduct of elections; compliance of Model Code of Conduct and new
measures proposed to be introduced by the Commission on election related
matters.
Top
Advisory
Jurisdiction & Quasi-Judicial Functions
Under the Constitution, the
Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post election
disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures.
Further, the cases of persons found guilty of corrupt practices at elections
which come before the Supreme Court and High Courts are also referred to the
Commission for its opinion on the question as to whether such person shall
be disqualified and, if so, for what period. The opinion of the Commission
in all such matters is binding on the President or, as the case may be, the
Governor to whom such opinion is tendered.
The Commission has the power
to disqualify a candidate who has failed to lodge an account of his election
expenses within the time and in the manner prescribed by law. The Commission
has also the power for removing or reducing the period of such
disqualification as also other disqualification under the law.
Top
Judicial
Review
The decisions of the
Commission can be challenged in the High Court and the Supreme Court of the
India by appropriate petitions. By long standing convention and several
judicial pronouncements, once the actual process of elections has started,
the judiciary does not intervene in the actual conduct of the polls. Once
the polls are completed and result declared, the Commission cannot review
any result on its own. This can only be reviewed through the process of an
election petition, which can be filed before the High Court, in respect of
elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures. In respect of elections
for the offices of the President and Vice President, such petitions can only
be filed before the Supreme Court.
Top
Media
Policy
The Commission has a
comprehensive policy for the media. It holds regular briefings for the mass
media-print and electronic, on a regular basis, at close intervals during
the election period and on specific occasions as necessary on other
occasions. The representatives of the media are also provided facilities to
report on actual conduct of poll and counting. They are allowed entry into
polling stations and counting centres on the basis of authority letters
issued by the Commission. They include members of both international and
national media. The Commission also publishes statistical reports and other
documents which are available in the public domain. The library of the
Commission is available for research and study to members of the academic
fraternity; media representatives and anybody else interested.
The Commission has, in
co-operation with the state owned media - Doordarshan and All India Radio,
taken up a major campaign for awareness of voters. The Prasar Bharti
Corporation which manages the national Radio and Television networks, has
brought out several innovative and effective short clips for this
purpose.
Top
International
Co-operation
India
is a founding member of the International Institute for Democracy
and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Stockholm, Sweden. In the recent
past, the Commission has expanded international contacts by way of
sharing of experience and expertise in the areas of Electoral
Management and Administration, Electoral Laws and Reforms. Election Officials from the
national electoral bodies and other delegates from the several countries -
Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand,
Nigeria, Australia, the United States and Afganistan have visited the Commission for a
better understanding of the Indian Electoral Process. The Commission has
also provided experts and observers for elections to other countries in
co-operation with the United Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Top
New
Initiatives
The Commission has
taken several new initiatives in the recent past. Notable among these are,
a scheme for use of State owned Electronic Media for broadcast/telecast by
Political parties, checking
criminalisation of politics, computerisation of electoral rolls, providing
electors with Identity Cards, simplifying the procedure for maintenance of
accounts and filling of the same by candidates and a variety of measures
for strict compliance of Model Code of Conduct, for providing a level
playing field to contestants during the elections.
Top
