CH- ELECTIONS AND THE
ELECTION COMMISSION
MEANING OF ELECTIONS
An election is an organised
process in which people vote to
choose the persons who shall
represent them in parliament or
the state legislature.
TYPES OF ELECTIONS
● GENERAL ELECTION
This was a simultaneous election
both for the Lok Sabha and all
legislative assemblies.
Therefore, it was known as the
general election.
● BY -ELECTION
By election is held to choose a
member of the Lok Sabha or
that of state legislature to
replace a previous member who
has resigned suddenly or died
A member elected in a by
election holds membership only
for the unexpired term of the
house
● MIDTERM ELECTION
The Lok Sabha on the State
Assembly may be dissolved
before its term is over. As a
result a midterm poll is required
to constitute a new House.
KINDS OF ELECTIONS
● DIRECT ELECTION
Direct election is one in which
the voters directly choose the
representatives to the
legislature.
● Members of the Lok Sabha
in India are directly elected
by all the people who have
the right to vote.
● Members of the state
legislative assembly (Vidhan
Sabha) are direct related by
the people of the state
concerned.
● Members of the local
bodies ( Municipal
corporation and Gram
Panchayat ) are also directly
elected by the voters.
INDIRECT ELECTION
An indirect election is on in
which the voters do not
directly elect their
representatives to the
legislature or head of the
state(the President) but elect
an intermediate body that body
proceeds to elect the
representatives or the President
as the case maybe
i. The members of the Rajya
Sabha ii. The President of India
and iii. The vice president of
India iv The members of the
State Legislative council (Vidhan
Parishad)
Essential Differences between
Direct and Indirect Elections
DIRECT INDIRECT
ELECTION ELECTION
1. Voters 1. Voters do
directly choose not directly
their elect their
representatives representatives
or Head of
State. They
only elect an
intermediate
body or an
Electoral
College
2. Members of 2. Members of
the Lok Sabha, the Rajya
the State Sabha,
Legislative Legislative
Assembly and Council, the
those of the President and
local bodies are Vice-President
directly elected of India are
by the voters elected
indirectly.
3. The number 3. There is a
of voters who very small
actually vote number who
for the persons actually
to represent constitute the
them is usually Electoral
very large. College.
4. A Direct 4. It reduces
Election the heat of the
arouses the Election
interest of the Campaign.
people in
elections
Composition and Organisation of
the Election Commission
The Constitution says that there
shall be a Chief Election
Commissioner and such other
Election Commissioners as the
President may, from time to
time, appoint. When any other
Election Commissioner is so
appointed the Chief Election
Commissioner shall act as the
Chairman of the Election
Commission. At present the
Commission is a three-member
body. Today the election
commission of India consist of a
chief election commissioner and
two election commissioners
Powers and functions of the
election commission of India
● Preparation of the Electoral
Rolls and Photo Identity cards
The electoral rolls will have to
be kept up to date all the time
so that the new election may
take place without any difficulty.
All eligible voters are issued a
voter ID card.
● Recognition to Political
Parties:
There are a number of national
and State parties in India. The
Election Commission grants
recognition to parties for
election purposes.
● . Allotment of Symbols to
Parties and Independent
Candidates:
The national and State level
parties can have a reserved
symbol for all the candidates
nominated by them. The
independent candidates can
select any symbol out of a list of
‘Free Symbols’.
Determining limits of a
constituency:
For elections, the country is
divided into fixed electoral areas
with a body of registered voters.
These geographically defined
areas are called constituencies.
Voters elect a representative for
their constituency. The Election
Commission has the power to
determine the limits or
boundaries of the constituency
where elections will take place.
Announcing the date of
elections:
The Election Commission
ensures that elections to the Lok
Sabha and State Legislatures
are held every five years except
in the case of extraordinary
circumstances such as militancy,
civil unrest and such.
Ensuring free and fair elections:
To ensure that the elections are
free and fair, the Election
Commission prescribes a model
code of conduct which all
political parties and their
candidates must follow. Some of
the major guidelines prescribed
by the model code of conduct
are as follows:
● Candidates must stop
campaigning 48 hours before
the elections.
● Places of worship cannot
be used for the election
process such as campaigning.
● Candidates cannot incite
communal or sectarian
feelings through speeches.
● There is a capping limit to
the amount of money that
may be spent by candidates
● Candidates and political
parties cannot corrupt the
voters by bribing them with
gifts for votes.
Announcing the results of
elections:
The Counting of votes is
supervised by the Returning
Officers and Observers
appointed by the Election
Commission. The Returning
Officer declares the name of the
candidate to whom the largest
number of votes have gone as
the winner.
