Electoral Reforms in India

• 18 Mar 2025

For Prelims: Election Commission of India (ECI),  Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC), RPA, 1951, EVM, VVPAT, ERONET (Electoral Roll Management System), Star Campaigners, Totaliser Machines, Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Law Commission, ARC. 

For Mains: Concerns in India’s electoral process and ways to address them. 

Source: TH 

Why in News? 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has invited political parties to discuss strengthening elections amid allegations of electoral roll manipulation and duplicate Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers. 

What Are the Legal Provisions Governing Elections? 

• Article 324: Grants the ECI the authority to supervise, direct, and control the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to Parliament and State legislatures. 
• Representation of the People Act, 1950: It includes provisions for election officers such as chief electoral officers, district election officers, and electoral registration officers, as well as electoral rolls for Parliamentary, Assembly, and Council constituencies. 
• Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA): Deals with the pre-election process, mainly the preparation and maintenance of electoral rolls. 
• Registration of Electors Rules, 1960: Lays down detailed procedures for the implementation of electoral roll-related provisions under RPA, 1951.  
  • E.g.,  Guidelines for the inclusion, correction, or deletion of names in electoral rolls. 
• Delimitation Act, 2002: It was enacted to redraw the boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on the latest Census data. 

Note: Evolution of Voting Methods: 

• 1952 & 1957: Separate ballot boxes for each candidate. 
• 1962: Introduction of ballot papers with candidate names and symbols. 
• 2004: Introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). 
• 2019: Mandatory use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips alongside EVMs. 

 

What Are the Key Concerns in the Electoral Process? 

Voting and Counting Issues: 

• Concerns Over EVM Tampering: Many people sought a return to paper ballots citing concerns regarding EVM tampering. 
• 100% VVPAT Verification: Critics of EVM seek full VVPAT-EVM matching which at present is carried out for five machines per assembly constituency/segment.  
  • Instead, the SC instructed engineers to verify the burnt memory of microcontrollers in 5% of EVMs if tampering is suspected. 
• Alleged Electoral Roll Manipulation: Opposition parties claimed large numbers of fake voters were added before the Maharashtra and Delhi Assembly elections. 
  • The EC attributed duplication to the earlier decentralized EPIC allotment before shifting to the ERONET (Electoral Roll Management System). 
  • ERONET is a centralized digital platform by the ECI for efficient electoral roll management nationwide. 
• Duplicate EPIC Numbers: Some voters in states like West Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab reportedly have identical EPIC numbers. 
  • The EC clarified that voters can only vote at their designated polling station, regardless of their EPIC number. 

Campaign Process Issues 

• Violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC): Star campaigners often use inappropriate language, appeal to caste/communal sentiments, and make unverified allegations. 
• Election Expenditure: Candidates exceed spending limits, while there are no limits on party expenditure. 
  • It is estimated that political parties spent nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 
• Criminalization of Politics: In 2024, 46% (251) of elected MPs have criminal cases, with 31% (170) facing serious charges like rape, murder, and kidnapping. 

What Reforms Are Needed? 

Voting and Counting Reforms 

• VVPAT Matching: States should be divided into regions, and any discrepancy should trigger a full manual VVPAT count in the affected region. 
  • Candidates placed second or third should request 5% EVM verification in case of suspected tampering. 
• Totaliser Machines: To safeguard voter anonymity, the ECI's 2016 proposal recommends using 'totaliser' machines to combine votes from 14 EVMs before disclosing candidate-wise results. 
• Fake Voter Concerns: To prevent fake voters and duplicate EPIC cards, Aadhaar-EPIC linking can be considered after discussions and privacy assurances.  
  • Meanwhile, the EC should eliminate duplicate voter IDs and ensure unique EPIC numbers. 

Campaign and Electoral Reforms 

• Stronger Enforcement of MCC: The EC should have the authority to revoke a leader's 'Star Campaigner' status for serious MCC violations, removing campaign expenditure relief.  
  • Under the Symbols Order, 1968, the EC can also suspend or withdraw a party's recognition for failing to follow MCC or its directives. 
• Regulating Election Expenditure: The RPA, 1951, should be amended to ensure that a political party's funding to its candidate falls within the prescribed election expenditure limits. 
  • There should also be a ceiling on expenditure by political parties. 
• Criminalization of Politics: Strictly enforce the Supreme Court's ruling in Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India Case, 2018, requiring candidates and parties to declare criminal records thrice before elections in widely circulated media. 

Note: The election expenditure limit for candidates is set at Rs 95 lakh for Lok Sabha seats and Rs 40 lakh for Assembly seats in larger states, and Rs 75 lakh and Rs 28 lakh respectively in smaller states. 

• Currently, there are no expenditure limits imposed on political parties during elections, allowing them unrestricted spending. 

Click Here to Read: SC Judgements on Electoral Reforms? 

What are Committee/Commission Recommendations on Electoral Reforms? 

• Vohra Committee (1993): It recommended strict background checks and creation of a nodal agency to collect, analyze, and act on intelligence about criminal-politician-bureaucrat links.  
  • Strengthen electoral laws to curb black money and muscle power.  
• Election Commission: EC have recommended that even persons against whom charges are framed by a competent court for an offence that entails punishment of more than five years should not be allowed to contest elections.  
• Law Commission: Law Commission’s 244^th Report (2014) recommended: 
  • Disqualify politicians once charges are framed.  
  • Increase the penalty under the RP Act, 1951 to a minimum 2-year sentence for false affidavits, with disqualification for convictions. 
• 2^nd Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC): The 2^nd ARC's Ethics in Governance report backed partial state funding to curb illegitimate money in elections as earlier recommended by the Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998). 

Way Forward 

• Strengthening ECI: Provide ECI with greater regulatory powers to verify candidates’ criminal records and financial disclosures. 
• Addressing Criminalization of Politics: Extend disqualification beyond six years for grave offenses like corruption, terrorism, and sexual crimes and fast-track MP/MLA trials to prevent criminals from contesting elections 
• Electoral Transparency: Mandate real-time disclosure of political funding and expenditures and empower anti-corruption agencies to probe election-related malpractices. 
  • Bringing political parties under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 to ensure democratic integrity. 
• Voter Awareness: Support media and civil society in monitoring elections and implement ethical training programs for political leaders to promote accountability in public life. 

Drishti Mains Question: 

Q. Discuss the key challenges in India's electoral process and suggest reforms to enhance electoral transparency and accountability.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)  

Prelims 

Q. Consider the following statements: (2021)

1. In India, there is no law restricting the candidates from contesting in one Lok Sabha election from three constituencies.
2. In the 1991 Lok Sabha Election, Shri Devi Lal contested from three Lok Sabha constituencies.
3. As per the existing rules, if a candidate contests in one Lok Sabha election from many constituencies, his/her party should bear the cost of bye-elections to the constituencies vacated by him/her winning in all the constituencies.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

(a) 1 only  

(b) 2 only 

(c) 1 and 3  

(d) 2 and 3 

Ans: (b) 

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Mains 

Q.1 Discuss the procedures to decide the disputes arising out of the election of a Member of the Parliament or State Legislature under The Representation of the People Act, 1951. What are the grounds on which the election of any returned candidate may be declared void? What remedy is available to the aggrieved party against the decision? Refer to the case laws. (2022)