Electoral System in India

Electoral System in India

Electoral System in India Method

• • Every adult citizen of the nation has the opportunity to take part in the process of forming the government through elections. 
  • The universal adult franchise principle, which gives all Indians who are 18 years of age or older the ability to vote regardless of caste, colour, religion, sex, or place of birth, is the basis for these elections. 
  • India uses two methods for processing elections: First Past the Post and Proportional Representation.

First Past the Post System

• • Under this system, elections are held in every constituency that the Election Commission designates, and the winner is the one who receives the most votes.
  • First-past-the-post voting is used to elect each Vidhan Sabha member as well as the Lok Sabha. 
  • Voters may only choose one candidate to support in each constituency, and the winner is the one who receives the most votes.

Proportional Representation System

• • Under this approach, the number of votes is divided among the legislators proportionately. 
  • It functions well in multi-party systems such as the Indian one, in which every party is taken into account independently of its size or total number of votes.

Election commission of India:

• • In India, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is an independent constitutional body tasked with running the Union and State electoral systems. 
  • It was founded on January 25, 1950, National Voters’ Day, in compliance with the Constitution. The commission’s secretariat is located in New Delhi.
  • Elections to the State Legislative Assemblies, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and Indian presidential and vice presidential posts are managed by this body. 
  • Elections to state municipalities and panchayats are unrelated to it. The Indian Constitution makes provision for a distinct State Election Commission for this purpose. 

Constitutional Provisions:

Part XV (Article 324-329): 

It creates a commission to handle election-related issues.

Article 324: 

• • An Election Commission will have oversight, guidance, and control over elections.

Article 325: 

• • No one shall be excluded from or assert that they are exempt from a special electoral roll on the basis of a person’s gender, race, religion, or caste.

Article 326:

• • Adult suffrage will be used for elections to the Legislative Assemblies of the States and the House of People.

Article 327:

• • Parliamentary authority to enact laws pertaining to legislature elections.

Article 328:

• • The ability of a state legislature to establish rules pertaining to legislative elections.

Article 329:

• • prohibition on judicial meddling in election-related issues.

Structure of ECI:

• • The Election Commissioner Amendment Act of 1989 allowed the commission to expand from having just one election commissioner to a multi-member body. 
  • The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and any additional election commissioners, if any, that the President may from time to time appoint, will make up the Election Commission.
  • It is currently made up of two Election Commissioners (ECs) and the CEC. 
  • The Chief Electoral Officer assists the electoral commission at the state level. 

Appointment & Tenure of Commissioners:

• • In accordance with the CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the President appoints CECs and Election Commissioners. 
  • Their term is set at six years, or until they are 65, whichever comes first.
    The CEC and ECs will have the same pay and working conditions as the Cabinet Secretary. 
  • It was the same as a Supreme Court judge’s remuneration under the 1991 Act. 

Removal:

• • They are free to leave at any moment, or they can be fired before their term is up.
    While ECs can only be removed on the CEC’s recommendation, CECs can only be removed from office following a procedure by Parliament akin to that of a SC judge.
  • The Election Commissioners (Designation, Terms of Office, and Conditions of Service) Act of 2023
    Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) statute, 1991 is superseded by this statute. 
  • It outlines the processes for selecting, paying, and dismissing Election Commissioners (ECs) and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
    The President will appoint the CEC and ECs based on the Selection Committee’s proposal.
  • The Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition/leader of the biggest opposition party in the Lok Sabha shall make up the Selection Committee. 
  • Even in the event that this Committee has a vacancy, the recommendations made by the Selection Committee will remain in effect.
  • A group of names will be recommended to the Selection Committee by the Search Committee, which is led by the Cabinet Secretary.
    Possessing (or having held) a position comparable to that of Secretary to the central government makes one eligible for the positions.
  • The CEC and ECs will have the same pay and working conditions as the Cabinet Secretary. 
  • It was the same as a Supreme Court judge’s remuneration under the 1991 Act. 

How is the President elected?

About:

• • Legislators at the federal and state levels cast their votes in the electoral college method used to elect the president of India. 
  • The Election Commission (EC) of India oversees and manages the elections.
  • All elected members of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament (MPs of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) as well as the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and Union Territories (MLAs) comprise the electoral college. 

Related Constitutional Provisions:

Article 54:  Election of President

Article 55: Manner of election of President.

Article 56: Term of office of President

Article 57: Eligibility for re-election.

Article 58: Qualifications for election as President

Procedure:

• • The stage before voting is the nomination process, in which the candidate wishing to run for office submits a signed list of fifty proposers and fifty seconders along with their nomination. 
  • Any member of the electoral college from both the state and federal levels may propose and second a measure.
    The requirement of having 50 proposers and seconders was put into place when the EC saw in 1974 that a number of candidates—many of whom had little hope of winning—would submit their nominations to challenge the polls.
    
    
  • A voter is only permitted to second or propose the nomination of one candidate at a time. 

What is the value of each vote and how is it calculated?

• • Every MP or MLA’s vote is not tallied as a single vote. 
  • Every Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MP’s vote has a set value of 700.
  • In the meantime, each MLA’s vote value varies from State to State according to a formula that takes into account the population of each state in relation to the total number of members of its legislative Assembly. 
  • The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act of 2001 states that the population of each State is currently derived from the 1971 Census data. 
  • This will alter upon the release of the Census data collected after 2026. 
  • The population of the State is divided by the total number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly to estimate the value of each MLA’s vote. 
  • The resulting quotient is then divided by 1000. 
  • With 208 votes for each MLA, Uttar Pradesh, for example, has the greatest vote value overall. In Maharashtra, one MLA’s vote is worth 175, whereas in Arunachal Pradesh, it is only worth eight.
    
    

What are the Provisions Related to the Vice-President?

Vice President:

• • The second-highest constitutional office in India is the Vice President’s. Although he or she can stay in office, their term of office is for five years. 
  • until the successor takes office, regardless of the term’s end. 
  • The President of India must receive the Vice President’s resignation in order for him to leave his position.
  •  The day the resignation is accepted marks its effective date.
    A resolution approved by the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and approved by the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) with the support of a majority of its members at the time may remove the Vice President from office.
  •  Only after giving notice of the intention to go forward for this purpose for a minimum of 14 days may a resolution be advanced. 
  • The Vice President does not occupy any other position of profit other than that of ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, the Council of States.

Eligibility:

• • Should be a citizen of India.
  • Should have completed 35 years of age.
  • Should be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
  • Should not hold any office of profit under the Union government or any state government or any local authority or any other public authority.