Election commission of India

H S Brahma is the present Election Commissioner. People Act, 1950, mainly deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls. People Act, 1951, deals, in detail, with all aspects of conduct of elections and post election disputes. Election Commission initially had only one Election Commissioner The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1993 made the Election Commission a multi-member body Impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner can be done by two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity.

Election Commissioners can be removed either by Chief Election Commissioner or Parliament. The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court.

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous body which has been constitutionally established by the Indian parliament. It is its responsibility to see the election procedure in the country. India holds elections every five years; as it has 29 states every state has its own interval of elections.

The Election Commission has the power of superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the Parliament of India and the state legislatures and of elections to the office of the President of India and the Vice-President of India. 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.

History

• As per the constitution Election Commission had only a single Chief Election Commissioner.
• Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989, but they had a very short tenure—until 1 January 1990.
• The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1993 made the Election Commission a multi-member body.
• Later, on 1 October 1993, two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of a multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision-making power by majority vote.
• The Chief Election Commissioner of India can be removed from his office by Parliament with two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity.
• Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
• The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as per the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992.

Duties and Powers

• One of the most important features of the democratic polity is elections at regular intervals. Holding periodic free and fair elections are essentials of democratic system. It is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• The Election Commission is regarded as the guardian of free and fair elections. In every election, it issues a Model code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner.
• The Commission issued the code for the first time in 1971 (5th Election) and revised it from time to time. It lay down guidelines for conduct of political parties and candidates during elections.
• However, there are instances of violation of code by the political parties and complaints are received for misuse of official machinery by the candidates.
• The need for such code is in the interest of free and fair elections. However, the code does not have any specific statutory basis. It has only a persuasive effect. It contains what, known as "rules of electoral morality". But this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from enforcing it.
• To get rid of the growing influences and vulgar show of money during elections the Election Commission has made many suggestions in this regard.
• The Election Commission has fixed the legal limits on the amount of money which a candidate can spend during election campaigns.
• These limits have been revised from time to time. The Election Commission by appointing observers keeps an eye on the individual account of election expenditure.
• The contestants are also required to give details of expenditure within 30 days of declaration of results.
• The campaign period was reduced by the Election Commission from 21 to 14 days for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to trim down election expenditure.
• Moreover, Election Commission takes details of the candidate's assets on affidavit at the time of submitting nomination paper.
• The Commission can issue an order for prohibition of publication and disseminating of results of opinion polls and exit polls.

Registration of political parties

• A law regarding to the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989 and number of parties got registered with the Commission.
• It helps to avoid confusion of the administrative machinery and the electorate and ensures that political parties are brought under the purview of the election commission.

State Election Commission

• The power of superintendence, direction and control of all elections to the local government bodies vest with the State Election Commissions as envisaged in Article 243(k) of the Constitution of India.
• The Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act, passed in 1992 by the Narasimha Rao government, came into force on April 24, 1993.
• It was meant to provide constitutional sanction to establish "democracy at the grassroots level as it is at the state level or national level" The State Election Commissioner has several unique powers pertaining to the elections to Local Bodies, which include the following.
• State Election Commissioner chairs the Delimitation Commission which delimits local government constituencies.
• He has full powers to conduct local government elections including disciplinary powers over staff who are on election duty and assigns reserved posts and constituencies.
• He can also disqualify candidates who do not submit election accounts, members found guilty of defection and elected representative who do not convene the Grama Sabha.

Introduction of Electronic Voting Machines:

• To reduce the malpractices done by the political parties Election Commission have brought in many changes one of the notable and important change is the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines.
• It was first tried out on an experimental basis in the state of Kerala for the 1982 Legislative Assembly Elections.
• After successful testing and legal inquires, the Commission took the decision to begin the use of EVMs.
• The Election Commission launched a web site of its own on 28 February 1998. It helps to provide accurate information, management, administration and also instant results of the elections.
• In 1998, Election Commission decided on a program for the 'computerisation' of the electoral rolls.
• In an effort to prevent electoral fraud, in 1993 EPICs – Electorals Photo Identity Cards were issued.

In the 2004 elections, it was mandatory to possess the card. But even ration cards and driving licenses is allowed to be used for election purposes.