Elections & Representation: Notes for UPSC, SSC & Railway Exams

The Election Commission of India

Article 324 vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President in the Election Commission. It was set up on 25 January 1950; that date is observed as National Voters' Day since 2011. Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner.

• Composition: originally a single-member body. It became multi-member briefly in 1989, and permanently from 1993 — a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. Decisions are by majority.
• Appointment: by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 — the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition (or leader of the largest opposition party) in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM. This replaced an interim arrangement set by the Supreme Court in 2023 that included the CJI.
• Tenure: six years or until age 65, whichever is earlier.
• Removal: the CEC only in the manner and on the grounds of a Supreme Court judge; other ECs only on the recommendation of the CEC (Article 324(5)).
• The ECI does not conduct panchayat and municipal elections; State Election Commissions do (Articles 243K and 243ZA).

Constitutional basis of elections (Articles 325–329)

The two Representation of the People Acts

Delimitation and reserved seats

• Delimitation Commissions were set up under Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002. Their orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned in court.
• The 42nd Amendment froze the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to states on the 1971 Census until 2000; the 84th Amendment (2001) extended the freeze until the first census after 2026. Constituency boundaries were redrawn on the 2001 Census without changing each state's total.
• Seats are reserved for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha (Article 330) and state Assemblies (Article 332), in proportion to their population. There is no reservation for them in the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Councils.
• The 104th Amendment (2019) extended SC/ST reservation to 2030 and ended the nomination of Anglo-Indian members.
• The 106th Amendment (2023) reserves one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, to take effect after a delimitation based on the first census after its commencement.

Milestones and reforms

• The first general elections were held between October 1951 and February 1952.
• Electronic voting machines were first used in 1982, in some polling stations of the Paravur constituency in Kerala.
• NOTA (None of the Above) was added to EVMs after the Supreme Court's 2013 judgment in the PUCL case.
• Lily Thomas (2013): a sitting MP or MLA convicted and sentenced to two years or more is disqualified at once; the protective clause in Section 8(4) of RPA 1951 was struck down.
• The Model Code of Conduct is not a law; it is a set of guidelines agreed with parties and enforced by the ECI.

Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule)

Added by the 52nd Amendment, 1985 to stop legislators from switching parties for gain. A member is disqualified if he voluntarily gives up party membership, or votes or abstains against the party whip without permission (unless the party condones it within 15 days). An independent member is disqualified if he joins a party after election. A nominated member is disqualified if he joins a party after six months of taking his seat.

• Exception: a merger, if at least two-thirds of the legislature party agree to it.
• The 91st Amendment (2003) deleted the earlier exception for a "split" by one-third of a legislature party; it also barred defectors from holding ministerial or remunerative political posts until re-elected.
• Disqualification is decided by the Speaker or Chairman. In Kihoto Hollohan (1992) the Supreme Court held that this decision is subject to judicial review.