Election Commission of India

1. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
https://www.eci.nic.in/

2. STRUCTURE: PEOPLE, CONSTITUTION, POLITICAL
PARTIES
AGENT

3. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA [ECI]
 Background
 Legal framework
 Organizational Structure/Capacity
 Regulatory expansion
 Electoral reforms
 Changing role
 Challenges

4. BACKGROUND
 Elections:
 Since ancient times…"Kudavolai" system of
imperial Cholas [They were basic grass​ root
democratic bodies]…
 British times also…but no provision for
independent election commission

5. LEGAL FRAMEWORK
 Art: 324 to 329 & others like Art .103
[whether a member of either House of
Parliament has become subject to any of
the disqualifications]
 Representation of the People Act, 1950
 Delimitation Commission [This is by parliament
and independent body from ECI] etc
 Representation of the People Act, 1951

6. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE/CAPACITY
 Permanent…independent body…Centralised-to insulate from local
influence
 Elections to Parliament, State legislatures, President & Vice-President
 ECI’s writ not below state level b’coz SEC…(Art. 243K and Art. 243ZA)
 Sukumar Sen 1st …
 Election Commission acquired credibility during Mr Seshan's time
 Up to 1993 single member body
 CEC + 2 EC [Authority to President to appoint additional
commissioners]
 CEC primus inter pares
 CEC & other ECs – 65 years/6 years
 Decision making on consensus
 Regional commissioners by president after consulting ECI-not in use
now
 Chief Electoral Officer – Statutory-RPA-1956, Appointed by ECI in
consultation with State Government
 ECI Expenditure – Voted
 No full time staff in the field
 When elections are ongoing the ECI enjoys primacy over judiciary and
other branches of government

7. • ECI
• 36 CEO
• 684 DEO-DM/DC…apart from that Election time
Observers-General & Financial
• BLO

8. Regulatory Expansionism

9. CHALLENGES OF PARTICIPATORY ELECTIONS
 Diversities-geographical…ethnic…caste
 Poverty & Illiteracy
 Inequality
 Money & Muscle power

10. VOTERS…POLITICAL
PARTIES…CANDIDATES…CONDUCTION OF
ELECTIONS
 Nehru time better
 1967-Congress split- whom to recognize…parties increased…abuse of
power
 Candidates increased
 Electorate increased
 Deepening of democracy…OBCs into electoral politics[a silent revolution by
C. Jaffrelot]…sub-optimal outcome
 After emergency growth of money and muscle power…Criminalization of
politics..Role of money
 Ruling party tried to influence ECI like increasing ECs…however ruling part
not undermining ECI’s authority
 1990s Assertiveness of ECI
 Structure:
 Strong opposition in the States 1st. …then in Centre
 Mobilization of public and media
 Agency
 T.N. Seshan

11. Voters…Political Parties…Candidates…Conduction of Elections
ECI’s decision to place the burden of registration on itself (voters
list) created practical challenges---urbanisation… to verify
citizenship?
Registering political parties to the ECI- a copy of party’s constitution
… internal democracy of party also
Nomination of Candidates: Less deposit amount- non-serious
candidates…amount increased…dramatic fall in the candidates
[if no 1/6th of valid votes forfeit of deposit]…again increased
SC’s backing ECI guidelines about candidates standing for election
to file affidavit about criminal, educational and financial
records…Barring serious criminal also in discussion
Conduct of elections: Model Code of Conduct- applicable to
candidates, parties and government-voluntary but ECI
implementing from time of announcement also… constraints on
ruling government
Transfer of officials who are more years in a particular place

12. ECI’S INNOVATION TO HAVE FREE & FAIR
ELECTIONS
 ECI’s organizational culture …Esprit de corps [a feeling of pride
and mutual loyalty shared by the members of a group]…(N.
Gopalaswamy as CEC asked the President to remove EC Navin
Chawla)
 EVMs…1982…SC no…2003…to stop electoral malpractice
 Vulnerability mapping to identify booths prone to violence unrest
 Webcams…EPIC
 Booth level officials…custodian of a booth, updated electoral rolls
 Not more than 2km a polling station
 The installation of the “NOTA” (None of the Above) button in the
EVMs
 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs)/verifiable
paper record (VPR)
 IIDEM- India International Institute of Democracy and Election
Management (IIIDEM)- https://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/iidm.aspx

13. MONEY POWER
 It constraints meritorious candidate
 Candidates expenditure larger than reported
to authorities
 Black money…Santhanam & Wanchoo
committee reported
 License-Quota-Permit Raj created nexus
between business groups and ruling parties

14.  Political donations to be public by companies
 Company and individual contribution to party
able to get tax exemption to certain limit
 Political parties to submit audited accounts
 NGOs ADR, National Election Watch
 Media assistance…partial state funding
 State funding…?

15. LINGERING ISSUES
 CIC divided over bringing political parties under RTIRead more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/cic-divided-over-bringing-political-parties-under-
rti/articleshow/65479368.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
 A political party will have to declare all donations it has received
above Rs 2,000 to the Income Tax Department to avail of tax
exemptions.
 It is not bound to declare the names of donors for the same to the
EC in its contribution report, as the Representation of People’s
Act still maintains the Rs 20,000 limit.
 This means that the public cannot access the names of entities
who have donated more than Rs 2,000 to a political party,
defeating the objective of the move initiated in 2017. The EC is
also unable to do anything on the matter as rule books do not
allow it.
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/66036321.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign
=cppst

16. MUSCLE POWER – CRIMINALIZATION OF
POLITICS
 Congress time politicians employed criminals for voter suppression etc
 1970s Criminals directly to contest elections
 Vohra committee reported
 Criminal gangs-Police-Bureaucracy-Politicians
 Why?
 Breakdown & decay of Congress party dominance
 Deterioration in law & order
 Politicization of state/government
 Political competitions including social divisions
 Money – ability to transact liquid cash by criminals says [and also a statistics
says poorest category 1% chance of winning ]
 However,
 Lily Thomas vs. Union of India…legislators have lost their protection from immediate
disqualification…conviction by the trial court will automatically result in removal from
the House

17. Challenges
Governance to improve…outside the remit of ECI
Criticism
Breached its constitutional remit by political actors
Achievements of ECI
Higher turnout…Less gender gap
However,
ECI requires more power through RPA amendment
Additional members to ECI…by President…will make
ECI weak?
Two ECs tenure…conflict between ECs & CEC

18. PROPOSED ELECTORAL REFORMS = LAW COMMISSION'S
RECOMMENDATION + THE GOSWAMI COMMITTEE REPORT IN 1990
AND OTHERS
 Amendment to the Constitution of India
 Constitutional protection for all members of the Commission
 Budget of the Commission to be 'charged‘
 Independent Secretariat for the Commission
Election Management Issues
Use of common electoral rolls by election commission of India & States Election Commission
To enhance the punishment for filing false affidavit
De- Criminalization of politics
Bribery during elections (both cash and kind) a cognisable offence, enabling police to arrest the
violators without a warrant and to enhance the punishment up to two years.
DE- REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES [There is no constitutional or
statutory provision that gives power to the Election Commission to de-register political parties]
Many political parties get registered, but never contest election. Such parties exist only on paper. The
possibility of forming political parties with an eye on availing the benefit of income tax exemption
also cannot be ruled out. It would only be logical that the Commission which has the power to
register political parties is also empowered to de-register in appropriate cases
AN ON EXIT POLLS AND OPINION POLLS
The Commission has been of the view that there should be some restriction or regulation on the
publishing / dissemination of the results of opinion polls also.
For further reforms:
https://www.eci.nic.in/eci_main/ElectoralLaws/HandBooks/PROPOSED_ELECTORAL_REFORMS_0105201
7.pdf

19.  Impact of Electronic Voting Machines on electoral frauds, democracy,
and development
 Change in voting technology led to strengthening of the democracy by making
elections more competitive, which in turn had an impact on promoting
development by increased provision of electricity.
http://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/governance/impact-of-electronic-voting-machines-on-electoral-frauds-democracy-and-development.html
 Do Indian voters mind their representatives getting rich in office?
Citizens’ low awareness…voters are largely unfamiliar with the content of the
disclosures
No evidence that a politician’s wealth mattered…a politician's record in office
noticeably more heavily than information about wealth accumulation
About wealth accumulation, with some subgroups being relatively tolerant of
wealth accumulation in office, especially among politicians from their
preferred party or own caste group
In order for information to reach its full potential and have a real impact at the
polls, voters need to not only be aware but also understand the information.
High illiteracy rates and low citizen engagement in Indian political and civic
life are probably important challenges in this regard
Information dissemination initiatives are not a panacea to larger problems of the
Indian political system
http://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/governance/do-indian-voters-mind-their-representatives-getting-rich-in-office.html

20. Sources: