The Election Commission of India (ECI) is widely regarded as a model of an independent EMB. It may be even more appropriate to describe it as a ‘fiercely independent’ EMB. In 1948–49, the founding fathers of the Indian constitution, while debating the position of the Election Commission in the Constituent Assembly, ensured that the body responsible for conducting elections in independent India was a distinct one, separate from the government of the day, and that it should have ample financial and administrative autonomy to conduct its affairs.
The combination of the well thought-out, broadly worded provisions contained in article 324 of the Indian constitution, a supportive judiciary, an active media and Indian public opinion, and the stature and independent attitude of some of the individuals who have headed the ECI has given it the independence and reputation it enjoys today.
The Legislative Framework Governing Elections and EMBs
In addition to the fundamental constitutional provisions, two important statutes provide the legal framework for elections: the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951. The first provides for the basic requisites for elections, such as the allocation of seats for the national and state-level legislatures, the delimitation of electoral boundaries and the preparation of the electoral registers. The second stipulates detailed provisions for the conduct of elections, including the qualifications for standing as a candidate for different public offices, the rules for registering political parties and the procedure for dealing with electoral disputes.
Once the election machinery is set in motion, the electoral process is subject to the administrative supervision of the ECI, and no court of law can stop the process. Only after an election is concluded can an election petition be presented to the High Court. The ECI itself enquires into any allegations of procedural irregularity or violations of the Electoral Law. This procedure has ensured that the electoral process can be completed on schedule, without getting bogged down in judicial hearings.
To supplement the various provisions of these two statutes, detailed procedures are contained in the Registration of Electors Rules of 1960 and the Conduct of Elections Rules of 1961, including the instructions and forms to be used on polling and counting days.
The ECI, after consultations with all the political parties, has published a model code of conduct. This code has no legal basis, and derives its legitimacy from the consensus of the parties. It is an attempt to level the playing field and prevent the governing party from misusing the state machinery to the disadvantage of opposition parties. The ECI has done an excellent job of enforcing its provisions and reining in the governing parties during election periods. At times it has postponed elections in certain disputed electoral districts in the face of gross violations of the code of conduct.
Institutional Structure
India is a federal polity of 29 states and seven union territories. At the national level, the Union Parliament has a lower and an upper house, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively. Each state also has at least one elected house, the Legislative Assembly, and some of the larger states also have a second house, the Legislative Council.
The Indian constitution gives the ECI the responsibility for conducting elections for all these legislative bodies, at both the federal and state levels. In 1992, through the 73rd amendment to the constitution, a third tier of governance was introduced — district-level bodies (panchayats), which are India’s institutions of local self-government. Elections to panchayats are entrusted to the state election commissions, which are separate entities.
Initially, there was a single chief election commissioner. However, the size, complexity and responsibility of the task led to the introduction briefly in 1989 and then from 1993 onwards of a three-member ECI. The president appoints the chief election commissioner and election commissioners to a term of six years, or up to the age of 65, whichever comes first. They enjoy the same status and receive the same salary and other benefits as judges of the Supreme Court of India. The chief election commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament. Impeachment can take place on two grounds only — proven misbehaviour or incapacity — and requires the same elaborate procedure that is used to remove judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts.
Other election commissioners cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner. The ECI exercises total control over the entire election machinery, even though the members of the electoral machinery are not its employees. India has the tradition of a neutral civil service.
The key officials at the state level are the state chief electoral officers, who are selected by the ECI from a shortlist drawn up by the state government of federal civil servants posted to the state. State chief electoral officers may not be dismissed without the approval of the ECI at the national level.
However, the main electoral activity takes place in the 672 districts, with an average of 1.1 million registered voters in each district. By 2014, India has an electorate with 814 million voters, the largest in the world, of whom 550 million exercised their franchise (a voter turnout rate of 66.7 per cent). Of these, more than 130 million were new voters. The office of the district magistrate (also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner in some parts of India) — an office created by the British — plays the pivotal role for the ECI. As the district election officer, the district magistrate performs key electoral duties as the team leader of all district and subdistrict-level officials. All these officials are legally deemed to be on secondment to the ECI and come under its supervision, discipline and control for the duration of an election.
In addition to about 11 million polling staff for approximately 930,000 polling stations, senior government officials who have previously worked as district election officers and returning officers serve as electoral observers on the ECI’s behalf. The ECI thus has immediate access to a large number of impartial and experienced observers without having to either employ them permanently or pay them. The observers are provided for in the Representation of the People Act of 1951 by an amendment inserted in 1989. By law they are to be officers of the government (federal or state), and they are vested with the power to stop the count if they believe malpractice has taken place. However, they have to report any such suspicion to the ECI immediately and then follow the directions given.
In practice, the ECI has also empowered observers to intervene in several matters, especially the deployment of police forces on voting day; locating polling stations in areas inhabited by weaker and poorer sections of the populace; and deciding on re-polls in cases of violence, alleged rigging and so on. Over time, the observers have become a formidable tool, acting as the eyes and ears of the commission and proving to be another important institution in ensuring the independence of the election machinery in India.
Powers and Functions
The ECI performs routine functions such as voter registration, deploying and training election officials, printing ballot papers, conducting the voting, counting the ballot papers and declaring the election results. It also allocates free time on the state-owned electronic media to national and state parties during the campaign period.
The ECI is not responsible for the delimitation of electoral boundaries: the constitution provides for a separate Delimitation Commission, headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court. One of the election commissioners is nominated to be a member of this body. However, because the ECI has the institutional memory and provides secretarial support, it plays an important role in the delimitation process.
The ECI is also the watchdog of election expenditure. Through its appointed financial observers, it very closely monitors candidates’ expenditures during the election campaign period. This has successfully reduced illegal expenditure at election time in India. The ECI has the power to order a re-poll at polling stations (or a whole electoral district) where irregularities have been observed. It may also adjourn any poll for a few days.
Provisions to regulate political parties were originally absent from the Electoral Law, and were introduced only in 1989, giving the ECI the responsibility for registering political parties. Initially, the procedure for registering a party was quite liberal. Any association or group of persons seeking to form a political party had to apply on a prescribed form and provide certain information. This simplified procedure prompted many people to register parties that then existed only in the records of the ECI. To curb this tendency, and to facilitate the formation of serious parties, the regulations were tightened to require at least 100 members of a proposed party to give details of their voter registration and swear individual affidavits that they are not members of any other party. The ECI has also prescribed a fee of INR 10,000 for registering a new party.
Financing
It is a mark of the ECI’s independence that it has not faced any major funding problems. With a staff of about 350 officials at the federal level, it is funded by the government budget through the Consolidated Fund. This pays for staff, technical operations and various office expenses, including the cost of acquiring EVMs. However, the greater part of the expense is borne by the state governments — for example, staff at the state headquarters and in the districts, the printing and transport of ballot papers, preparing and printing the electoral registers, procuring materials for the conduct of elections, training, the salaries of election officials and security forces deployed for elections, and the expenses of central election supervisors.
The cost of time on the state-owned media is borne by the government, as the parties are given this time free of charge. The broad powers given to the ECI by the constitution have been liberally and boldly interpreted to make the government pay for any necessary expenses. The ECI’s accounts are subject to audit by the comptroller and auditor general, and its report is tabled in Parliament. This ensures the ECI’s financial accountability, which has worked smoothly.
Electoral Reforms
Although there is no formal procedure for proposing electoral (and consequent legislative) reforms, the ECI does play a role in this regard. It has put forward a number of proposals for electoral reform that are sent to the Law and Legislative Affairs Ministry and to the prime minister directly. Such proposals are often simultaneously discussed in the media in order to bring pressure on the government and encourage public debate.
Calling a meeting of all political parties to create consensus — for example on the development of the model code of conduct — is another effective method used by the ECI. Some important reforms have recently been instigated through the mechanism of public interest litigation, through which an NGO or public-spirited person raises issues before the Supreme Court or the high courts.
Modernization of the Electoral Procedures
The ECI, after initial hesitancy, has actively and successfully promoted the application of information technology to elections as a way of handling the mammoth scale of elections in India. Each registered voter is issued with a photographic ID card to enable him/her to vote freely, and to prevent fraudulent and multiple voting. Copies of the electoral registers are made available to the political parties on CD-ROM for checking and for use on election day.
Through the use of computers at over 989 vote-counting centres, the results of the count are processed instantly and made available. Another technological innovation has been the use of EVMs at all polling stations. Although initially reluctant because of political parties’ apprehensions about possible tampering, and suspicion among voters resulting from widespread illiteracy, the ECI has actively promoted the use of EVMs. Their use at all polling stations in 2014 meant that the results were available within hours of the count starting.
Capacity Building
In order to promote professional management of elections, in 2011 the ECI set up a training and resource centre called India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) with four operational wings: training and capacity building, voter education and participation, research and documentation, and international co-operation. The IIIDEM has developed a series of training modules and curricula for both domestic and international participants. Within the first three years of its existence, the institute has trained election managers from more than 40 countries.
