Electoral Reforms and Indian Democracy

 India has the distinction of being the largest democracy in the world and

election is an integral component of the democratic system. Asuccessful

democracy is based on free and fair elections and not on the rigged and

manipulated ones. While politics is the art and practice of dealing with the

political power, the election is a process of legitimisation of such power.

Election Procedure in India

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a permanent constitutional body that

was established on 25th January, 1950. The ECI is the guardian of free and fair

elections in India. Post independence, the elections are held after every five years

at the state and national levels to choose the representatives of the people and

elect the government. The Article 326 of the Indian Constitution deals with

election to the House of People and to the Legislative Assemblies of the state.

Significant Amendments in the Acts

Over the years, there have been a number of electoral reforms in India. The

voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 years by the Amendment to the

Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988 and this enfranchised a whole new

generation of voters. Under the Representation of People Act, 1951 a new

Section 13CC was added, which provides that the officers or staff engaged in the

preparation, revision and correction of electoral rolls for elections shall be deemed

to be on deputation of Election Commission for the period of such employment

and such personnel during that period, be subject to the control, superintendence

and discipline of Election Commission.

Besides, the number of electors who were required to sign as proposers in

nomination papers for elections to the Council of States and Legislative Council

have been increased to 10 per cent of the electors of the constituency or ten such

electors whichever is less to prevent frivolous candidates.

Introduction of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

The Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were used as an experimental basis for the

first time in Assembly constituencies in states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and

New Delhi for the general elections in November, 1988. The Election Commission

was empowered under Article 324 of the Constitution to use EVM during

elections and it successfully accomplished the vital task of the introduction of

photo identity cards for all the voters in the country. This has been successful in

weeding out the bogus and duplicate entries during the elections.

The Concept of NOTA

The NOTA (None Of The Above Option) was used for the first time in the

Assembly Elections held in five states in 2013. It was introduced in the electronic

voting machines after the honourable Supreme Court delivered the landmark

judgement in Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India Case. The option

of NOTA upheld and recognised the rights of the citizens to not cast a vote while

maintaining his secrecy during such abstinence. The true spirit of democracy lies

in giving the citizens power to exercise their rights. NOTA replaced the process

of filling the form 17(A), which was used in order to cast a negative vote.

Challenges of Electoral System

The elections have become synonymous with corruption, communalism, violence

and power. The criminalisation of politics has led to the misuse of money and

power. It is tough to expect fair and just decisions when the law breakers have

become the law makers.

The inclusion of anti-social elements in the legislative assemblies have diluted the

essence of democracy and led to a feeble electoral system. Money power has a

baneful influence on the elections in the country.

In fact, it has undermined our democratic system. The voters are purchased like

saleable commodities and caste and religion have a decisive influence on the

ultimate wrong voting behaviour and election results.

The leaders elected on the religious and caste lines are apt to show favours to the

adherents of their caste and religion. It has been seen and often reported that the

employees preparing electoral rolls sometimes deliberately ignore certain section of

voters by their names and not entering them in the electoral rolls at the

insistence of interested parties. On account of emergence of the coalition era,

stability of our governments both at the state and country level has gone to the

winds.

Hence, there are too frequent elections and the voters develop a sort of electoral

fatigue. Even the dead and absentee voters could be impersonated with the

connivance of their families and some polling officers. Too many candidates in the

fray for elections is said to be the glaring defect of electoral system in India

because it spoils the chance of good candidates winning the elections.

All these defects of our electoral system induce our political analysts to clamour

for electoral reforms so that our democratic edifice attains stability and the

representatives elected may render dedicated service to the nation.

Contribution of Different Committees in Electoral System

A number of committees have been appointed to examine the issues and the

major challenges affecting the Indian Electoral System. The committees include the

Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990), the Vohra Committee (1993),

the Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998), the National

Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2001), the ECI Proposed

Electoral Reforms (2004), the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC-

2008) and the Law Commission of India.

All these committees pointed towards the divergence and irregularities in the

election process and then made recommendations for its implementations. Despite

several reforms initiated, these issues are still paralysing the Indian Electoral

system for decades.

Criminalisation of Politics and Electoral System

The Section 8 of Representation of People Act strongly advocates for the

disqualification of candidates with criminal background. But as per the Section 8, a

person is disqualified from elections only on conviction by a court of law. The

Election Commission has repeatedly proposed the amendment of this law to

provide that any person who is accused of a punishable offence by imprisonment

for 5 years or more should be disqualified from contesting the elections.

The Election Commission strongly advocates for the fact that this will play an

important role in cleaning up the Indian political system. In July, 2013, the

honourable Supreme Court gave a ruling that the MPs and MLAs who were

convicted of serious crimes be barred from contesting elections. But the

implementation of this clause has not been strictly adhered to in the Indian

elections. The opponents of this law have been firm on the opinion that a person

is presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty by a court of law.

Funding Reforms to Strengthen the Electoral System

It is paradoxical that everyone including the Election Commission knows that the

ceiling of the expenditures fixed for elections is just enough to cover up the small

proportion of actual expenses. There are no means by which the Election

Commission could check the expenditure done by the candidates and political

parties during the elections.

During the election period, the State and Central Governments embark on the

advertisement spree in the guise of providing information to the public. The

expenditure incurred on these is recovered from public exchequer. This gives the

government which is in power an edge over the others. The Union Government

announced the Electoral Bonds Scheme in 2017-18 in Union Budget as part of

certain electoral funding reforms.

These bonds will prompt donors to take banking route to donate, with their

identity captured by the issuing authority. The paid news and political

advertisements have risen exponentially in the regional and national media.

Election Commission has laid down a model that is Code of Conduct for the

guidance of both the political parties and the candidates contesting elections.

Some of these codes are

(i) Since the announcement of elections, the ministers and other concerned

authorities should not announce the financial grants in any form.

(ii) Ministers, MPs and MLAs of the ruling party should not combine official visits

with the electioneering work.

(iii) The ministers and the other concerned officials shall not advance payments out of

discretionary quotes after the announcement of elections.

(iv) Criticism of other parties is to be kept confined to their policies, plans and their

implementations etc.

These set of norms have been evolved with the consensus of political parties who

have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code in its letter

and spirit. But the bitter truth is that these rules are openly flouted and never

abided. The predicament is not the lack of laws, but their strict execution and

implementation.

Conclusion

Over the years, the Election Commission has conducted a number of laudable

reforms to strengthen the democracy and conduct free and fair elections.

However, there is still a lot that can be done. The Election Commission needs to

be vested with more power and authority. It should have the power to penalise

the politicians and political parties who disobey the electoral laws. The political

parties need to show their will to abide by the reforms. It is high time that

the citizens of India rise above the issues of religion, caste and community and

vote on the basis of their convictions. The citizens must be aware of their rights

and duties. An enlightened voter is the cornerstone of a successful democracy.

All these reforms will go a long way towards making India a democracy in its

true sense.