This document provides an overview of the electoral process in India. It discusses key topics like types of elections, universal adult franchise, representation, theories of representation, the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system and proportional representation system. It explains why India adopted the FPTP system over the PR system and summarizes the electoral process in India. It also provides a brief introduction to the Election Commission of India, which oversees elections in the country.
2. “Every election is determined
by the people who show up to
it…”
“Elections belong to the
people. It is their choice and
decision.”
— Abraham Lincoln
3. Contents of this presentation
What are we to discuss on?
1. Elections
2. Types of Elections
3. Universal Adult Franchise
4. Representation
5. Some Interesting Facts
6. The Four Theories of Representation
7. The FPTP System
8. The PR System
9. Why did India choose to take the FPTP System?
10. Why did India not choose the PR System?
11. Electoral Process
12. ECI
13. Election Reforms
5. Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population
chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office and run the
territory assigned. It is arrangement of citizens to choose their representatives.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative
democracy has operated since the 17th century.
Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and
judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many
other private and business organisations, from clubs to voluntary associations and
corporations.
Elections are often thought of as the heart and soul of political processes
conducted in various formats.
8. GENERAL ELECTIONS
They are the elections which are held in all constituencies at the time or day or in the interval of
few days. They are held in every 5 years regularly . The candidate elected is in action for the 5 years
only and not for the remaining period of time.
MIDTERM ELECTIONS
A Midterm election is an election that is held when a State Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha is
dissolved before the completion of its normal five year term.
The midterm election can be referred to as a type of election where the people of a country elect
their representatives in the middle of executive’s (president or prime minister) term or that of
another set of members. The elections are staggered so that not all the sets fall vacant at the same
time when an election is declared.
BI ELECTION
It is held only when there is a vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member and is
held for only one constituencies. It is held the expiry of 6 months from the date the seat has been
vacant .
10. What is U.A.F?
Universal suffrage, also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man,
gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity,
political stance, or any other restriction, subject only to relatively minor exceptions once in a while.
In its original 19th-century usage by reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal
manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement.
There are variations among countries in terms of specifics of the right to vote; the minimum age is usually
between 18 and 25 years and "the insane, certain classes of convicted criminals, and those punished for certain
electoral offenses" sometimes lack the right to vote. In the first modern democracies, governments restricted the
vote to those with property and wealth, which almost always meant a minority of the male population. In some
jurisdictions, other restrictions existed, such as requiring voters to practice a given religion. In all modern
democracies, the number of people who could vote has increased progressively with time.
The movement to lower the voting age is one aspect of the youth rights movement. Organizations such as the
National Youth Rights Association to advocate for a lower voting age, with some success, among other issues
related to youth rights.
Democratic schools practice and support universal suffrage in school, which allows a vote to every member of the
school, including students and staff. Such schools hold that this feature is essential for students to be ready to
move into society at large.
12. Representation
Ideally, representation is the action of speaking or acting on behalf of
someone or the state of being so represented.
It is a relationship through which an individual or group stands for, or acts
on behalf of, a larger body of people.
Political representation is the activity of making citizens "present" in
public policy making processes, when political actors act in the best
interest of the citizens they work for.
For example: Representation may imply acting on the expressed wishes
of citizens, but it may alternatively imply acting according to what the
representatives themselves judge is in the best interests of citizens.
14. Facts
★ In the United States, individual states decide how and when to register voters, which has often
led to confusion. Only 13 states allow voter registration on Election Day.
★ In Canada, there is no deadline to register to vote. Voters are allowed to register when they
arrive at the polls on Election Day.
★ In France, citizens are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18 years old. In Sweden,
eligible voters are automatically registered when they turn in their tax registration rolls.
★ In Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries on Earth, the entire national community votes
on whether someone can become a citizen, based on their skills and employment.
★ Dr K. Padmarajan of Salem in Tamil Nadu is the most unsuccessful candidate in India who has
lost over 170 elections that he contested.
★ The very first Lok Sabha election in India was fought between fifty-three political parties in
India.
★ North Korea holds elections every 5 years, in which the ballots list only one candidate.
15. Facts
★ George Washington spent his entire campaign budget (50 pounds) on 160 gallons of liquor to
serve to potential voters.
★ The 2019 elections were the longest elections in our country (India) with regards to the number
of days the polling is to be held.
★ Before 1948, university graduates and business owners in the UK were allowed to cast more
than one ballot, giving certain social groups an electoral advantage.
★ About 42 independent members were elected to the lower house (Lok Sabha) in the year 1957.
★ In Australia, voting is compulsory and citizens over 18 are fined if they do not vote.
★ In ancient Athens, each year citizens voted to banish any citizen from the city-state for 10
years.
★ Women in New Zealand gained the right to vote in 1893, the first independent country to do so
in modern times.
★ The 61st Constitutional Amendment has reduced the voting age in India from 21 to 18 in 1989.
★ In the present elections, for the very first time in India, the (VVPAT) Voter Verifiable Paper Audit
Trail was used in the EVM’s across the country. This process helps voters to identify their votes
being cast.
17. Models of Representation
Models of representation refer to ways in which elected officials
behave in representative .
We have four theories / models of representation in our system and
they are:
1) Delegate Model
2) Trustee Model
3) Politico Model
4) Mandate and Resemblance Model
18. Delegate Model
A delegate is someone who is elected to represent and convey the views of others. The
delegate model of representation suggests that representatives have little or no capacity to
exercise their own judgement or preferences. They are merely elected to be the mouthpiece
of their constituency and act only the way their constituents would want them to, regardless
of their own opinion.
Joseph Tussman stated, "The essence of representation is the delegation or granting of
authority. To authorize a representative is to grant another the right to act for oneself.
Within the limits of the grant of authority one is, in fact, committing himself in advance to
the decision or will of another".
Trustee Model
A trustee is someone who acts on behalf of others, using their knowledge, experience and
intelligence upon a certain field. The trustee model contrasts with the delegate model as this
time constituents "entrust" their elected representatives to represent them however they see
fit, with autonomy to vote and behave in the best way for their constituents.
Edmund Burke, who formulated the model, stated in a speech, "You choose a member
indeed; but when you have chosen him he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of
parliament...your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he
betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your own opinion".
19. Politico Model
The politico model came about when theorists recognized that representatives rarely consistently
act as just a delegate or just a trustee when representing their constituents. It is a hybrid of the two
models discussed above and involves representatives acting as delegates and trustees, depending
on the issue.
Mandate and Resemblance Models
The mandate model views representatives as less independent actors. This came about after the
emergence of modern political parties; now constituents rarely vote for a representative based on
their personal qualities but more broadly, they vote for their party to be elected into government. A
mandate is an order or instruction from a superior body therefore this model suggests
representatives follow the party line and must carry out policies outlined during election
campaigns.
The resemblance model is less concerned about the way representatives are selected and more
concerned whether they resemble the group they claim to represent. It is similar to descriptive
representation, they argue that to represent a group of people such as the working class or women
to its full potential you must be part of that social group yourself. Therefore, only people who have
shared experiences and interests can fully identify with particular issues.
21. What is the FPTP System?
The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is also known as the simple majority system.
In this voting method, the candidate with the highest number of votes in a constituency
is declared the winner.
This system is used in India in direct elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative
Assemblies .
While FPTP is relatively simple, it does not always allow for a truly representative
mandate, as the candidate could win despite securing less than half the votes in a
contest.
For example: In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party
won 336 seats with only 38.5% of the popular vote.
The only prominently visible backlash of this system is that smaller parties representing
specific groups have a lower chance of being elected in FPTP.
22. FPTP is useful because it is simple to use and easy to understand. It
provides clear-cut choice for voters between two main parties.
It allows voters to choose between people rather than just between
parties.
Thus, voters can assess the performance of individual candidates rather
than just having to accept a list of candidates presented by a party.
It also gives a chance for popular independent candidates to be elected.
However, the issue is that the victorious party has most often not secured
the majority of votes. It is possible for a party to win majority of the seats
with just 20-26% of vote share; by the same token, a party may not get a
simple majority even with 74% of vote share.
There is, hence, a mismatch between the number of seats won and the
percentage of vote secured by the party.
24. What is the PR System?
Proportional Representation refers to an electoral system in which the distribution of
seats corresponds closely with the proportion of the total votes cast for each party.
It is a concept in which the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is
proportionate to the number of votes received.
This is a more complicated system than the FPTP system .
India is not new to PR system; in our country, the following elections are held on the
basis of proportional representation:
● President
● Vice President
● Members of Rajya Sabha
● Members of State Legislative Council
25. The system of Proportional Representation has many variants, out of which two systems
are most popular viz. List System and System of Single Transferable Vote.
List System
In the list system, political parties present lists of candidates in advance, who are
awarded seats in proportion to their party’s vote share, usually with some minimum
prescribed thresholds.
Method of the Single Transferable Vote
In this system, the voters make an electoral college and while voting, they rank
candidates in order of preference. Their vote is allotted to their first preference, and if
no one emerges with a majority, the least voted candidate is removed from
consideration and the second choices of those who voted for him are taken into
consideration. This process continues till a winner with a majority emerges.
26. Proportional representation undoubtedly falls second in competition with the
FPTP system in terms of simplicity in voting, but it scores higher in terms of
convenience during campaign.
Candidates can simply focus pointed attention on defined groups to appeal to,
and consequently, the problems of campaign financing do not feature as
prominently in the process.
Since parties are granted seats in accordance with their vote share, numerous
parties get seats in the legislature in the proportional representation system,
without any party gaining a majority.
This detracts from the stability of the system. Forming a coalition government
becomes inevitable, with challenges to such governments also becoming
frequent.
This is also why the Constituent Assembly decided that proportional
representation would not be suited to the Parliamentary form of government
that our Constitution lays down.
28. India and the FPTP System
India adopted the FPTP system for the following reasons:
★ It is a simple system without much complication.
★ For a huge sub-continental country like India, it is the most suitable.
★ There is also a clear choice presented to the voters at the time of elections i.e.
voters have to simply endorse a candidate or a party while voting.
★ The FPTP system offers voters a choice not simply between parties but specific
candidates .
★ Since in the FPTP system representatives are chosen from one particular area,
citizens can’t run away from their responsibilities. It is an excellent notion for the
formation of stable governments.
★ It unites different sections of people. It is a suitable system for serving national
interests.
★ The FPTP system encourages voters from different social groups to come together
to win an election in a locality. In a diverse country like India a PR system would
encourage each community to form its own nation-wide party.
29. Why did India not choose
to take on the PR System?
10
30. The framers of Indian Constitution felt that PR system may not
provide stable government in the legislature and PR system may not
produce a clear majority, since seats are alloted in legislature on the
basis of vote share.
They also believed that a PR system of elections would lead to
distrust between the citizens of the country and cause groups and
people to split off.
Another reason to reject the PR system was that it was far too
complex for the common man to understand and act upon. It was
crucial to keep them in mind as the common man was the most
important vote when India gained its independence.
32. Electoral process means all aspects of the election process and all
election technologies including, but not limited to, voter
registration, nomination of candidates, campaigning, polling,
counting, announcement of results, and processing of complaints
and disputes.
It is also right to say that electoral process means ‘a series of key
election-related undertakings encompassing, inter alia, the
formulation of legislation, delimitation, conflict prevention and
management initiatives, civic and voter education, registration of
voters, development and implementation of codes of conducts,
nomination of candidates, campaigning, voting, tabulation, results
and announcements and election adjudication.
33. The electoral process in India is performed into different stages under the provisions of
Representation of People Act, 1950 and 1951.
1) First of all, constituencies are formed in a territorial area from where a candidate
contest election.
2) The nomination papers are filled with the returning officer.
3) The scrutiny is made to check whether the information filled in nomination form,
are correct.
4) After the scrutiny is over, the candidate is given a date for withdrawal.
5) Then Election campaign takes place by various techniques by holding rallies,
meetings, processions, distributing handbills and door-to-door canvassing, etc.
6) The election campaign stops 48 hours earlier before polling is held on the due
date. Presiding officers and polling officers supervise the whole polling process.
The voters vote through the secret ballot.
7) After the voting is over, the counting made on a fixed date and time. The candidate
getting highest number of votes, is declared elected.
35. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a permanent and independent
body established by the Constitution of India directly to ensure free, fair
and impartial elections elections in the country.
The Election Commission is an all-India body in the sense that it is
common to both the Central government and the state governments.
The Election Commission is not a legal but is a constitutional body.
It administers over elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State
Legislative Assemblies, State Legislative Councils and the offices of the
President and Vice President of the country.
The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution
per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People
Act.
36. The main functions of the Election Commission of India are:
1. Ensure free and fair elections in the country.
2. Supervise, direct and control the entire election machinery; preparation
of electoral roll.
3. Provides recognition to political parties and register them as national
and / or state parties.
4. Allotment of symbols to political parties and the numerous independent
candidates contesting the elections.
5. Issuing guidelines and code of conduct for the election officials,
candidates, and for the political parties during the elections.
6. Redressal of election complaints received from the voters, the
candidates and the political parties.
7. Appointment of electoral officials.
8. Advising the President on matters relating to elections.
38. Electoral reforms are changes in electoral systems to improve how
public desires are expressed in election results.
That can include reforms of – voting systems, voting counting
procedures, eligibility to vote, rules related to political parties and
their functioning.
Electoral reforms can make the democratic process more inclusive
by bringing more people under the electoral process, reduce
corruption, which is pervasive, and make India a stronger
democracy.
What are Electoral Reforms?
39. There are multiple issues plaguing the electoral process in India. They are as follows:
Money Power
In every constituency, candidates have to spend crores of rupees for campaigning, publicity, etc. Most candidates far
exceed the permissible limit of expenses.
Muscle Power
In certain parts of the country, there are widespread reports of illegal and untoward incidents during polling such as the
use of violence, intimidation, booth capturing, etc.
Criminalisation of Politics and Politicization of Criminals
Criminals enter into politics and ensure that money and muscle power wins them elections, so that the cases against
them are not proceeded with. Political parties are also happy as long as they have winnable candidates. Political parties
field criminals in elections for funds and in return provide them with political patronage and protection.
Misuse of Government Machinery
There is a general opinion that the party in power uses government machinery such as using government vehicles for
canvassing, advertisements at the cost of the exchequer, disbursements out of the discretionary funds at the disposal of
the ministers, and other such means to improve the chances of their candidates winning.
What are the issues Indian Electoral System faces?
40. Non-serious Independent candidates
Serious candidates float non-serious candidates in elections to cut a good portion of the votes that would otherwise
have gone to rival candidates.
Casteism
There are cases of certain caste groups lending strong support to particular political parties. Thus, political parties
make offers to win over different caste groups, and caste groups also try to pressurize parties to offer tickets for their
members’ elections. Voting on caste lines is prevalent in the country and this is a serious blotch on democracy and
equality. This also creates rifts in the country.
Communalism
Communal polarization poses a serious threat to the Indian political ethos of pluralism, parliamentarianism, secularism
and federalism.
Lack of Moral Values in Politics
The political corruption in India has led to politics becoming a business. People enter the political arena for making
money and retaining their money and power. There are very few leaders who enter politics to make a difference in the
lives of their people. The Gandhian values of service and sacrifice are missing from the Indian political scene
What are the issues Indian Electoral System faces?
41. How do we fix this? What reforms are we to introduce?
Major Electoral reforms undertaken include –
★ Lowering of Voting Age
★ Restriction on contesting from more than 2 constituencies
★ Independent Election Commission of India
★ Restriction on exit polls
★ Awareness Creations
★ Voting through postal ballot for special case
★ Ceiling on election expenditure
★ Anti – defection laws
★ EVM voting
★ Disqualification on conviction for violating the National Honours Act, 1971
