Electoral Reforms in India

Electoral Reforms:

The following electoral reforms have been introduced in out electoral system in the last few years.

(1) Lowering of voting Age:The constitution Act. 1988 amends Article 326 by substituting the words '18 years' for '21 years'. This came into force on 28 March, 1989.Thus parliament through a constitutional amendment in 1989 reduced the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.

(2) Deputation to Election Commission:Under the Representation of the People Act, 1988, a new section 13cc was inserted which provides that officers or staff engaged in 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 shall during that period, be subject to control, superintendence and discipline of Election Commission.

(3) Increase in number of proposers:Number of electors who are requited to sign as proposers in nomination papers for elections to council of states and State Legislative Council has been increased to ten percent of the electors of the constituency or ten such electors whichever is less to prevent frivolous candidates.

(4) Electronic Voting Machine:The Representation of the people Act, 1951 was amended to facilities use of electronic- voting machines in elections.

(5) Booth capturing:Section 58 A has been inserted in the Representation of the people Act 1951 by Act 1 of 1989 providing for adjournment of pole or countermanding of elections because of booth capturing.Booth capturing ha6 been defined in section 135 A of the Representation of the people Act 1951.

 (6) Poll Law Ordinance:A notable hurdle in holding elections in Punjab in the eventuality of the death of an independent candidate was effectively removed on January 4, 1992 with the promulgation of an ordinance under which the parliamentary and state assembly elections will not be countermanded in such cases. The ordinance amends, the Representation of the people Act.

Suggestions:

To stream line the system we want radical reforms in the entire electoral system. Electoral reforms and other measures have become imperative to overcome the threat to democracy and carry democracy process forward. To improve the draw backs and loopholes in the electoral system we propose these reforms.

(1) Reorganization of Election Commission:To start with let us consider the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner which as per the present procedure cannot be considered to be totally free from political bias as the appointment is made on the advice of the leader of the ruling party in the House.The appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner can be made through a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the leaders of the ruling party and main opposition party in parliament.

The committee can make a panel of few eminent persons each one of them selected unanimously, and forward it to the president for final selection. In this way the over whelming say that the ruling party has in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner can be neutralized.Further, it should be made mandatory that the Chief Election Commissioner on completion of his term will not be eligible for consideration for any office of profit. However, a retiring Chief Election Commissioner may be provided an adequate compensation package.

The members of the Election Commission should be appointed by the same committee as was proposed for the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner, but with the Chief Election Commissioner as an ex-officio member, Retired Govt officials should not be allowed to occupy this office.

(2) Independent Election Machinery:The Election Commission should have its own administrative machinery at the state level and its powers should be considerably augmented. At present the Election Commission is completely at the mercy of the central and state govts.

It cannot even maintain the electoral rolls up-to-date without assistance from the state govt. In these circumstances, the independence of the election system would always be under constant threat from the vested interests dominating the party in power which in fact controls administration.

 (3) Holding By-elections:It was alleged that some by-elections are not held for a very long period which naturally created suspicion on the part of the authorities.The Lok Sabha joint parliamentary committee recommended that a statutory limit of 6 months should be introduced in the constitution for the holding of all by-elections.

(4) Electronic Machines:There is a need to introduce electronic machines in the voting process. The only difference here is the voter has to press a button instead of marking a ballot paper.The use of electronic gadgets for election purpose will in the long run add to the savings.

(5) Disposal of Election case:Election petitions also take a long time to be disposed of. Although it is required by Law that the election petition should be disposed of within 6 months of its filing, yet seldom this is done.

 (6) Rotation of Reserved Seats:It is proposed rotation of reserved seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

 (7) Delay in Elections:This creates a lot of bitterness and suspicion. A mandatory provision should therefore be made to hold such elections within six months from the day of vacancy or dissolution.

(8) Election Expenditure:Expenses incurred by the candidate and the party should be taken into consideration while accounting for election expenditure. Having regard to the present costs, proper limits on expenditure should be fixed in consultation with the opposition parties.