ELECTORAL REFORMS IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION

By the late 1960s, India was beginning to realize how much it needed election changes. In the states, regional parties and coalition governance by parties started to take shape. Certain unfavourable characteristics and political systemic distortions that were more pronounced in electoral politics were highlighted with the rise of alternative party administrations in the states.

OVERVIEW

In 1970, a parliamentary committee was initially established to recommend changes to the Election Law. However, this Committee was also disbanded along with the Lok Sabha in December 1970. A Joint Parliamentary Committee on Amendments to Election Law, led by Shri Jagannath Rao, was established by Parliament in 1971 following the formation of a new Lok Sabha.

Subsequently, other committees were established to investigate matters about election changes, including the Tarkunde Committee (1975), the Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990), the V.K. Krishna Iyer Committee (1994), and the Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998).

In addition to this, the Election Commission has occasionally put forth reform suggestions. The Election Commission began its work in 1970 and has since issued proposals for election changes in 1977, 1982, 1990, 1992, 2004, and 2016. In addition to this, political parties have proposed election reforms through the platform of all-party meetings. Furthermore, the government has occasionally started redemptive actions.[1]

TN SESHAN ERA

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) TN Seshan was appointed on December 12, 1990, and served in that capacity until December 11, 1996. Many people give him credit for bringing about the electoral changes that altered the character of Indian elections.

Even with a constitutional mandate to conduct free and fair elections in India, the Election Commission of India was nothing more than an election observer until 1990. During a period when buying votes was commonplace, Seshan upheld the EC’s constitutionally mandated jurisdiction. In addition to creating a list of 150 malpractices, he altered the way that the country conducted elections.

His strict guidelines prohibited bribing or intimidating voters, giving out alcohol during an election, using government equipment for political purposes, appealing to voters’ caste or communal sentiments, using places of worship for political purposes, and using loudspeakers without prior written consent. Along with enforcing the Model Code of Conduct, he closely monitored poll expense caps and cracked down on several other malpractices.

Under his close supervision, voter identification cards were issued to all eligible voters.

TYPES OF RECENT ELECTORAL REFORMS

I. REFORMS INTRODUCED FOR THE ELECTORATES:

1.The official voting age was originally set at 21 years old, however, it was later decreased:

This age was lowered to 18 years old by the 61st Amendment Act[2] of the Constitution.

2. Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) Introduction:

The Supreme Court invalidated the 1982 Kerala general election because there was no rule governing the use of electronic voting machines at the time. This was the first time that EVMs had been used in an election. The Representation of the People Act, 1951[3] was then modified by the Parliament in 1989 to include a clause allowing for the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during elections.

They were employed in 25 Legislative Assembly constituencies scattered across three states—Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi—after a broad consensus on their adoption could only be achieved in 1998. All 543 parliamentary constituencies in the nation employed electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 2004 general election to elect the Lok Sabha.

3. Postal ballot: Six more groups were added to the postal ballot’s scope in 2013. These included voters under preventive detention, voters with election-related responsibilities, spouses of service voters and special voters, and Notified voters. Those who qualified to vote from overseas were able to use the Electronically Transmitted Postal ballot facility in 2020.
4. Voter awareness:

The government declared 25th January to be “National Voters Day” to raise voter awareness.

5. Limiting exit polls:

In 2010, the Representation of Peoples Act, of 1951 was amended to include Section 126(A), which placed restrictions on exit polls. The Election Commission released a statement before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that limited the transmission of exit polls. They stated that exit polls may only be shown following the last round of voting. To avoid deceiving voters, this action was performed.

II. REFORMS INTRODUCED TO REGULATE THE ELECTORAL CANDIDATES:

1. Candidates who violate the National Honours Act, 1971[4], and commit any offence under Section 2 (insulting the Indian National Flag) or Section 3 (stopping the National Anthem) risk having their candidatures barred from office for six years.
2. All candidates are required to disclose their assets and criminal histories. Before an election, they have to disclose their criminal history three times: once in a national daily newspaper and twice in two other regional language newspapers. According to Section 125A[5] of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, providing false information in an affidavit carries a penalty of up to six months in jail, a fine, or both.

III. REFORMS FOR CONDUCTING AND EXECUTING ELECTIONS:

These are the several election changes that have been implemented periodically to alter the Indian electoral system.

1. 1. Restraint on Elections Expenditure: Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) raised the spending cap for candidates running for Lok Sabha seats from Rs 54 lakh to Rs 70 lakh (depending on the state). Furthermore, the upper limit on expenditure for Assembly constituencies was raised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh, with the upper maximum varying based on the state. Part 77 of the RPA 1951 mandates that every candidate maintain a record of all the expenses incurred between the nomination and results dates. For up to three years, (Section 10A[6], RPA 1951) the Election Commission of India may disqualify a candidate for inaccurate information.
2. Sales of alcohol are forbidden: All establishments close to the voting station are subject to a 48-hour official prohibition on the sale of alcohol or other intoxicants.
3. Prohibition of Arms: According to the 1959 Arms Act[7], it is illegal for anybody in possession of a weapon to approach a voting place. A maximum two-year term may be imposed on anyone detected in possession of weapons near the voting booth.
4. Paid Holiday: Section 135B[8] of the Representation of People Act, 1951 grants employees of all organizations the right to a paid holiday on the day of elections. On the day of the election, everyone who places a wager is entitled to earn their full day’s pay; those who don’t follow this are punishable by a fine.
5. Silence period prior to elections: 48 hours prior to election day and ending after polling day, all candidates and political parties are prohibited from engaging in any kind of aggressive campaigning. It is called the “silence period” because it is meant to give voters time to reflect and carefully consider their options. The Election Commission has notified all political parties that social media would also be subject to the campaigning limitations during the 48-hour “silence period.”
6. Death of a candidate in the contest: At the moment, elections are not rescheduled or postponed in response to a candidate’s passing. However, the party is given a deadline of 7 days within which they must nominate an alternative candidate if the candidate belongs to any officially recognized political party

Author(s) Name: Vinayak Rastogi (New Law College, Bharati   Vidyapeeth, Pune)

Reference(s):

[1]R Ramesh, ‘Historical Perspective of Electoral Reforms in India’(2011) JSTOR1325–36 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/44145743> accessed 13 December, 2023

[2]The Constitution (61^st Amendment) Act, 1988

[3]Representation of Peoples Act, 1951

[4] The National Honours Act, 1971

[5]Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, s 125A

[6]  Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, s 10A

[7]The Arms Act, 1959

[8]   Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, s 135B