Elections in India

India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the central government and the states. India is the largest democracy in the world.[1]

The President of India is the ceremonial head of state of the country and supreme commander-in-chief for all defence forces in India. However, it is the Prime Minister of India, who is the leader of the party or political alliance having a majority in the national elections to the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is the leader of the executive branch of the Government of India. The Prime Minister is the chief adviser to the President of India and the head of the Union Council of Ministers.

India is regionally divided into States (and Union Territories) and each State has a Governor who is the state's head, but the executive authority rests with the Chief Minister who is the leader of the party or political alliance that has won a majority in the regional elections otherwise known as State Assembly Elections that exercises executive powers in that State. The respective State's Chief Minister has executive powers within the State and works jointly with the Prime Minister of India or their ministers on matters that require both State and Central attention. Some Union Territories also elect an Assembly and have a territorial government and other (mainly smaller) Union Territories are governed by a person appointed by the President of India.

The President of India monitors the rule of law through their appointed governors in each State and on their recommendation can take over the executive powers from the Chief Minister of the State, temporarily when the elected representatives of the State government has failed to create a peaceful environment and has deteriorated into chaos. The President of India dissolves the existing State government if necessary, and a new election is conducted.

Elections in India have a comparatively high level of violence associated with them.[1]

Elections

Election Commission is the federal body of India which is enacted under the provisions of the Constitution, responsible for monitoring and administering all the electoral processes of India. This body is responsible for ensuring elections are free and fair, without any bias.[2]

Election ensures the conduct of members pre-elections, during elections, and post-elections are as per the statutory legislation .

All election-related disputes are handled by the Election Commission. The Supreme Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of elections, the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the Constitution to act as appropriate.The first election Commissioner was Sukumar Sen.

Types of elections

Elections in the Republic of India include elections for:

Parliamentary general elections (Lok Sabha)

Members of Lok Sabha (House of the People) or the lower house of India's Parliament are elected by being voted upon by all adult citizens of India, from a set of candidates who stand in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their constituency. Candidates who win the Lok Sabha elections are called 'Member of Parliament' and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, on matters relating to the creation of new laws, removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens of India. Elections take place once in 5 years to elect 543 members for the Lok Sabha (Lower house).[3]

History of Lok Sabha elections

Colour key for parties
Lok Sabha elections[4][5][6][7]
Lok Sabha
(Election)
Total Seats First Second Third
Political party Seats Percentage of votes Political party Seats Percentage of votes Political party Seats Percentage of votes
1st
(1951–52)
489 Indian National Congress 364 44.99% Communist Party of India 16 3.29% Socialist Party 12 10.59%
2nd
(1957)
494 Indian National Congress 371 47.78% Communist Party of India 27 8.92% Praja Socialist Party 19 10.41%
3rd
(1962)
494 Indian National Congress 361 44.72% Communist Party of India 29 9.94% Swatantra Party 18 7.89%
4th
(1967)
520 Indian National Congress 283 40.78% Swatantra Party 44 8.67% Bharatiya Jana Sangh 35 9.31%
5th
(1971)
518 Indian National Congress 352 43.68% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 25 5.12% Communist Party of India 23 4.73%
6th
(1977)
542 Bharatiya Lok Dal 295 41.32% Indian National Congress 154 34.52% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 22 4.29%
7th
(1980)
529 Indian National Congress (Indira) 353 42.69% Janata Party (Secular) 41 9.39% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 37 6.24%
8th
(1984)
541 Indian National Congress 414 48.12% Telugu Desam Party 30 4.06% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 22 5.72%
9th
(1989)
529 Indian National Congress 197 39.53% Janata Dal 143 17.79% Bharatiya Janata Party 85 11.36%
10th
(1991)
534 Indian National Congress 244 36.40% Bharatiya Janata Party 120 20.07% Janata Dal 59 11.73%
11th
(1996)
543 Bharatiya Janata Party 161 20.29% Indian National Congress 140 28.80% Janata Dal 46 8.08%
12th
(1998)
543 Bharatiya Janata Party 182 25.59% Indian National Congress 141 25.82% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 32 5.16%
13th
(1999)
543 Bharatiya Janata Party 182 23.75% Indian National Congress 114 28.30% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 33 5.40%
14th
(2004)
543 Indian National Congress 145 26.53% Bharatiya Janata Party 138 22.16% Communist Party of India (Marxist) 43 5.66%
15th
(2009)
543 Indian National Congress 206 28.55% Bharatiya Janata Party 116 18.80% Samajwadi Party 23 3.23%
16th
(2014)
543 Bharatiya Janata Party 282 31.34% Indian National Congress 44 19.52% All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 37 3.31%
17th
(2019)
543 Bharatiya Janata Party 303 37.70% Indian National Congress 52 19.67% Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 24 2.36%

State Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) Elections

Members of State Legislative Assembly, are elected directly by voting, from a set of candidates who stands in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their constituency. Candidates who win the State Legislative Assemblies elections are called 'Member of Legislative Assembly' (MLA) and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the Governor. The house meets in the respective state, on matters relating to the creation of new laws, removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens living in that state.

The total strength of each assembly depends on each State, mostly based on size and population. Similar to the Lok Sabha elections, the leader of the majority party/alliance takes oath as Chief Minister of the State.

The Election Commission conducts the elections and provides voluntary facility to 80 years plus aged electors to vote through ballot papers at their homes depending upon polling booth accessibility. Elections are taken up enthusiastically by major portion of the population who turn out in high numbers. For example, An 83-year-old woman, Dolma, cast her vote at Chasak Bhatori polling station in Pangi area of Chamba district after covering 14 kilometers walking on a snowy road during 2022 assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.[8]

State Assembly election results (Vidhan Sabha)
State/UT1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
AP 1955
1957
1962
1967
1972
1978
1983
1985
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
2014
2019
2024
AR 1978 1980
1984
1990
1995
1999
2004
2009
2014
2019
2024
AS 1952
1957
1962
1967
1972
1978
1983
1985
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
BR 1952
1957
1962
1967
1969
1972
1977
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005 (Feb)
2005 (Oct)
2010
2015
2020

2025

CG State didn't exist. Was part of MP. (Established in 2000) 2003
2008
2013
2018
2023
DL 1952       1993
1998
2003
2008
2013
2015
2020

2025

GA   1963
1967
1972
1977
1980
1984
1989
1994
1999
2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
GJ   1962
1967
1972
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
1998
2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
HR   1967
1968
1972
1977
1982
1987
1991
1996
2000
2005
2009
2014
2019
2024
HP 1952
1967 1972
1977
1985
1990
1993
1998
2003
2007
2012
2017
2022
JK 1951
1957
1962
1967
1972
1977
1983
1987
1996 2002
2008
2014 -
JH State didn't exist. Was part of Bihar. (Established in 2000) 2005
2009
2014
2019
2024
KA Mysore 1952
Mysore 1957
Mysore 1962
Mysore 1967
Mysore 1972
1978
1983
1985
1989
1994
1999
2004
2008
2013
2018
2023
KL 1952 Thiru-Kochi
1954 Thiru-Kochi
1957
1960
1965
1967
1970
1977
1980
1982
1987
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
MP Bhopal 1952
MB 1952
MP 1952
VP 1952
1957
1967 1972
1977
1980
1985
1990
1993
1998
2003
2008
2013
2018
2023
MH   1962
1967
1972
1978
1980
1985
1990
1995
1999
2004
2009
2014
2019
2024
MN   1967 1972
1974
1980
1984
1990
1995
2000
2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
ML     1972
1978
1983
1988
1993
1998
2003
2008
2013
2018
2023
MZ     1972
1978
1979
1984
1987
1989
1993
1998
2003
2008
2013
2018
2023
NL   1964
1969
1974
1977
1982
1987
1989
1993
1998
2003
2008
2013
2018
2023
OR 1952
1957
1961
1967
1971
1974
1977
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2004
2009
2014
2019
2024
PB 1952
1957
1962
1967
1969
1972
1977
1980
1985
1992
1997
2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
PY   1964
1969
1974
1977
1980
1985
1990
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
RJ 1952
1957
1962
1967
1972
1977
1980
1985
1990
1993
1998
2003

2008
2013

2018 2023
SK     1979 1985
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
2014

2019

2024
TN MS 1952
MS 1957
MS 1962
MS 1967
1971
1977
1980
1984
1989
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021
TS 1952 State didn't exist. Was part of AP. (Established in 2014) 2014

2018

2023
TR[9]   1967 1972

1977

1983

1988

1993

1998

2003

2008

2013

2018

2023
UP 1951
1952
1957
1962
1967
1969
1974
1977
1980
1985
1989
1991
1993
1996
2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
UT State didn't exist. Was part of UP. (Established in 2000) 2002
2007
2012
2017
2022
WB 1952
1957
1962
1967
1969
1971
1972
1977
1982
1987
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011
2016
2021

By-election

When an elected candidate to either the State Assembly or Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha leaves the office vacant before their term ends, a by-election is conducted to find a suitable replacement to fill the vacant position. It is often referred to in India as Bypolls.

Common reasons for by-elections:

  • Resignation by the sitting MP or MLA
  • Death of the sitting MP or MLA

But other reasons occur when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office (criminal conviction, failure to maintain a minimum level of attendance in the office, due to election irregularities found later, or when a candidate wins more than one seat and has to vacate one).

Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Elections

The Rajya Sabha, also known as the Council of States, is the upper house of India's Parliament. Candidates are not elected directly by the citizens, but by the Members of Legislative Assemblies and up to 12 can be nominated by the President of India for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha get a tenure of six years, with one-third of the body facing re-election every two years. Rajya Sabha acts as a second-level review body before a bill becomes an act.[10]

The Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions.

The Legislative proposals (making new laws, removing or appending new conditions to the existing law) are brought before either house of the Parliament in the form of a bill. A bill is the draft of a legislative proposal, which, when passed by both houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and assented to by the President, becomes an Act of Parliament.

The Constitution of India, however, places some restrictions on the Rajya Sabha which makes the Lok Sabha more powerful in certain areas. For example, it stipulates that Money bills must originate in the Lok Sabha.

Members of Rajya Sabha debate bills sent by the Lok Sabha and can approve, reject or send the bill back to the Lok Sabha for further debate and discussion on the matter, as well as to suggest better changes in the drafted bill. Members of the Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations to the Lok Sabha for money bills within 14 days. If the Rajya Sabha fails to return the money bill in 14 days to the Lok Sabha, that bill is deemed to have passed by both the Houses. Also, if the Lok Sabha rejects any (or all) of the amendments proposed by the Rajya Sabha, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament of India in the form in which the Lok Sabha finally passes it.

Electoral procedures

Candidates are required to file their nomination papers with the Electoral Commission. Then, a list of candidates is published. No party is allowed to use government resources for campaigning. No party is allowed to bribe the candidates before elections. The government cannot start a project during the election period. Campaigning ends by 6:00 pm two days before the polling day.

The polling is held between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employees are employed as poll officers at the polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are being used instead of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud. After the citizen votes, his or her left index finger is marked with indelible ink. This practice was instituted in 1962.

Indelible ink

Ink used in Indian elections
Ink bottle pledge

Research into indelible ink was commenced by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In the 1950s, M. L. Goel worked on this research at the Chemical Division of the National Physical Laboratory of India. The ink used contains silver nitrate, which makes it photo-sensitive. It is stored in amber-colored plastic or brown-colored glass bottles. On application, the ink remains on the fingernail for at least two days. It may last up to a month, depending on the person's body temperature and the environment.

Electronic voting

Voting machine

BHAVIK (EVM) were first used in the 1997 election and became the only method of voting in 2004. The EVMs save time in reporting results. A voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) was introduced on 14 August 2014 in Nagaland.[11] In the 2014 general election, VVPAT was operational in 8 constituencies (Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and Mizoram) as a pilot project.[12][13] A slip generated by the VVPAT tells a voter to which party or candidate their vote has been given, their name, their constituency and their polling booth.[14][15][16][17][18]

Opposition parties demanded that VVPAT be made mandatory all over India due to allegations against the government of hacking the EVM. Accordingly, Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) and EVMs were used in every assembly and the general election in India since 2019.[19][20] On 9 April 2019, Supreme Court of India gave the judgement, ordering the Election Commission of India to increase the VVPAT slips vote count to five randomly selected EVMs per assembly constituency, which means the Election Commission of India has to count VVPAT slips of 20,625 EVMs in the 2019 General elections.[21][22][23] VVPAT enables voters to cross-check whether the vote they have given goes to their desired candidate as the VVPAT unit produces a paper slip, additionally called a ballot slip, that contains the name, serial number, and image of the candidate selected by the voter for his vote. Post the 2019 general election, ECI declared that no mismatches between EVM and VVPAT.[24]

NOTA

On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India judged that citizens have the right to cast a negative vote by exercising the "None of the above" (NOTA) option. This was the result of petitioning by the Electoral Commission and the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 2009. In November 2013, NOTA was introduced in five state elections. If the majority votes are for NOTA, the region comes under presidential jurisdiction and is treated with laws similar to a national territory.[25]

Absentee voting

India does not provide general absentee voting.[26][27][28] On 24 November 2010, the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2010 was gazetted to give voting rights to non-resident Indians but a physical presence at the voting booth is still required.[29][30][31][32]

Postal voting

Postal voting in India is done only through the "Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers (ETPB)" system of Election Commission of India, where ballot papers are distributed to the registered eligible voters and they return the votes by post. When the counting of votes commences, these postal votes are counted before those from the Electronic Voting Machines. Only certain categories of people are eligible to register as postal voters. People working in the Union armed forces and state police as well as their spouses, and employees working for the Government of India who are officially posted abroad can register for the postal vote, these are also called the "Service voters". Additionally, people in preventive detention, disabled and those above the age of 80 years old can use postal vote. Prisoners can not vote at all.[33][34][35]

See also

References

  1. Richetta, Cécile; Harbers, Imke; van Wingerden, Enrike (2023). "The subnational electoral coercion in India (SECI) data set, 1985–2015". Electoral Studies. 85. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102662. ISSN 0261-3794.
  2. "A Constitutional Body". Election Commission of India.
  3. "Terms of the Houses". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  4. "Lok Sabha Election Results 1951-2004". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. "Lok Sabha Election Results 2009". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  6. "Lok Sabha Election Results 2014". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  7. "Lok Sabha Election Results 2019". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  8. "Assembly elections 2022: 66% voter turnout in Himachal Pradesh, world's highest booth sees 100% polling | Himachal-Pradesh Election News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  9. "43. India/Tripura (1949-present)". Uca.edu. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  10. "Rajya Sabha Election 2017: Here Is How Members Are Elected To Upper House". NDTV.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  11. "EC Decides to use VVPAT System at Bye-Election in Nagaland" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  12. References:
  13. "VVPAT, a revolutionary step in voting transparency". DNA. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  14. "Not many were aware of VVPAT, but were happy with verification". The Hindu. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  15. "Safe distance". The Indian Express. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  16. "As smooth as it gets, says city poll chief". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  17. "Ripon Buildings turns nerve centre of electoral activities in Chennai - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  18. "Voter's verifiable paper audit trail system to be introduced in Chennai Central constituency". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  19. "EC announces Lok Sabha election dates: VVPATs, to be used in all polling stations, help bring more accuracy in voting". Firstpost. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  20. "What are EVMs, VVPAT and how safe they are". The Times of India. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  21. "Supreme Court: Count VVPAT slips of 5 booths in each assembly seat | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  22. JAIN, MEHAL (8 April 2019). "Breaking: SC Directs ECI To Increase VVPAT Verification From One EVM To Five EVMs Per Constituency [Read Order]". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  23. "When the SC Says No for Software Audit Review of EVMs & VVPAT at Present". Moneylife NEWS & VIEWS. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  24. "EVM-VVPAT pass test in Lok Sabha polls". Economic Times. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  25. "ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA:Press release" (PDF). Eci.nic.in. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  26. "Who can vote by postal ballot?". The Economic Times. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  27. "Election Commission to ensure postal votes don't get invalid". dna. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  28. "Pranab to become first president to cast vote via postal ballot". Oneindia.com. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  29. "How to Vote in India". One World News. oneworldnews.com. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  30. "Petition for Absentee Voting in Indian Elections". Voterswithoutborders.org. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  31. "People for Lok Satta- NRI voting campaign". Nrivotingrights.info. 9 January 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  32. "PRESS RELEASE: Bridge India diaspora survey of NRIs and OCIs finds significant support for BJP, better NRI voting rights". Bridge India. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  33. Postal ballots: Who can vote through ETPB, how to get registered and how the voting is done; an explainer, First Post, 2 April 2019.
  34. Maharashtra, Haryana Elections 2019: Can You Vote By Postal Ballot If You Aren't Living At Home?, Huffington Post, 26 September 2019.
  35. Bakshi, Gorki (29 October 2019). "People over 80 years of age, disabled can now vote through postal ballot". Retrieved 22 September 2020.
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