Election Commission of India

Published on 21 Jan 2025

Election Commission of India (ECI)

Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections to the Parliament, State legislature, the office of President and the office of Vice President shall be vested with the Election Commission.

Significance of  Election Commission of India 

• Universal Adult Franchise: Under Article 326, Election Commission oversees the process of voter registration and maintains the electoral rolls thus ensuring every eligible person can vote.

• Smooth conduction of election: The ECI monitors the election process to prevent malpractices such as vote rigging, voter intimidation and electoral fraud.

• Example: The 2019 election in the Vellore constituency was cancelled by the Election Commission following the seizure of cash worth 12 crore.

• Enforcement of election rules: The EC enforces the Model Code of Conduct during the election period and thus ensures level playing field between political parties. The Commission also has powers to disqualify candidates who violate the model code.

• Dispute resolution: The Election Commissioner looks into disputes involving allocation of party symbols. 

• Example: ECI’s decided to grant bow and arrow symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiva Sena in Maharashtra

• Promote innovation in election: The ECI over years has introduced several proven technologies to make the election process more transparent.

• Example: Introduction of VVPAT in 2014 general election to improve the credibility in the working of EVM.

• Advisory role: The ECI advises the President regarding disqualification of Parliamentary members. The office also gives advice on conducting elections in an area under the President's rule after one year of proclamation.

• Example: The President rejected the plea for the disqualification of Riti Pathak, a BJP MP, based on the recommendation of the Election Commission.

Issues associated with the office of Election Commission

• Concern regarding independent functioning: The Constitution has not prescribed the qualification  of the members of the Election Commission which brings them close to a political appointment.

• Example: Dividing the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election into 8 phases favoured election campaign of one of the parties and hence got criticized as a politically motivated move.

• Difference in security of tenure: The Chief Election Commission can only be removed by following the procedures for the disqualification of a Supreme Court judge but the other Election Commissioners can be removed based on the recommendation of the CEC.

• Lack of administrative machinery: The institution depends on government servants on deputation to carry out election duty. This reduces the independence of the body.

• Expenditure made from consolidated fund: The administrative expenses of the Election Commission is a voted expenditure, which impedes their financial autonomy.

• Example: The Parliament is dominated by the ruling party and the administrative expense of the Election Commission lies at the mercy of the party in power.

• No power to deregister: The Election Commission has no power to deregister political parties. This reduces the effectiveness of their actions at curbing criminalization of politics.

• Example: In recent years, ECI has declared 537 registered unrecognized parties as inactive. But they cannot be deregistered due to lack of power with ECI.

• Lack of transparency: There are no records of the Election Commission’s discussion which raises the question of transparency of the office.

Way forward

• CEC and other EC (Appointment, Conditions of Office and Terms of Office) Bill, 2023: The President appoints the CEC and EC based on the selection committee's recommendation, which includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.

• Dinesh Goswami committee recommendation: Election Commission be appointed on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader and Chief Justice of India.

• Equality among Commissioners: Equal constitutional status shall be provided to all members of the ECI in matters of removability from office.

• Independent secretariat and administrative staff: The Law Commission’s 255th report on electoral reforms mentions the need to have a permanent secretariat for ECI.

• Independent funding: The expenses of the commission shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and shall not be subjected to vote.

• Vesting more powers: Election Commission should be empowered to deregister parties for having tighter control over political parties.

Elections are the bedrock of democracy and hence Election Commission’s credibility is central to democratic legitimacy of the nation. Some of these changes must be brought in to preserve the credibility of the institution.

Tags:
Polity

Keywords:
constitutional bodies Election commission Article 324

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Indian Constitution