ALL ABOUT

ELECTORAL
POLITICS
What we learnt from this STORY
• People have a right that year they are unhappy with the
ruling party, they can vote against them in the next
elections.
• The leaders start the election campaign two weeks
between the announcements off final candidates and
date of polling.
• The party with the majority of voters and seats wins the
election.
 Why
• Elections are the most powerful tool of indirect democracy
since they encourage citizens to elect their representatives,
who then pass laws on their behalf.

Do • People will choose who is going to shape the

government and make important decisions.

we • They will choose the party whose policies will

guide the making of government and law.

need • Elections provide us with peaceful transition of

power from one form of government to another.

ELECTIONS? • People may always nominate another party to form

government if they are dissatisfied with the current
government, its policies,and the way it operates.
 Elections
What makes an election democratic?
o Every voter must have one vote with equal value
o Candidates or party should be free to contest election and
should offer some real choice to the voter.
o Elections must be held regularly after few years.
o The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
o Election should be conducted in a free and fair manner
where people can choose as the really want.

IF THESE ALL RULES ARE FOLLOWED IN A COUNTRY DURING

ELECTION IT MEANS THE ELECTION HELD IS DEMOCRATIC
 Is it good TO HAVE POLITICAL
COMPETITION?
Elections are all about political competition. This competition takes various forms, at the
constituency level, it takes the form of competition among several candidates.
Here are a few reasons that support political competition as
being good for people.

Regular electoral Political parties know

that if they raise On the contrary, if
if a political party is
competition issues that people they fail to satisfy motivated only by
provides want to be raised, the voters with the desire to be in
incentives to their popularity and their work, they
chances of victory will power, despite that,
political parties increase in the next will not be able to it will be forced to
and leaders. elections. win again. serve the people.
 WHAT IS OUR SYSTEM OF
ELECTIONS?
Election are held in all • Indian election are democratic?
constituency at same
time same day this is • Lok sabha and vidhan sabha
called general elections. elections are held regularly after
Sometime selection or every 5 year.
held only for one
concentrated to fill the • After 5 year term of all elected
vacancy caused by the representative come to an end Lok
death or resignation of a Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands
member this is called by
election.
dissolved.
India is divided into different areas for the purpose of elections. These areas are
called ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES.The voters who live in an
area elect one representative.
For Lok Sabha elections, India is divided into 543 constituencies. The
representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament
or an MP.

Each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case,
the elected representative is called the Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA.
Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies.

The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is
divided into several 'wards' that are like constituencies. Each ward elects one member of the
village or the urban local body. Sometimes these constituencies are counted as "seats', for
each constituency represents one seat in the assembly.
 RESERVED CONSTITUENCIES
Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC] and
Scheduled Tribes [ST].
In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the SC and 47 for the ST.

In SC reserved constituency, only someone who belongs to the

Scheduled Caste can stand for election.

Only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a
constituency reserved for ST.

In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and

corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes
(OBC) and women candidates as well.
 VOTER’S LIST
In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before
the election and given to everyone, which is officially called the Electoral Roll and is
commonly known as the Voters' List.

It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the

eligible voters put on the voters' list.

The voters are required to carry Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC]
when they go out to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else.

But the card is not yet compulsory for voting as voters can show
many other proofs of identity, like the ration card or the driving
license.
 WHAT MAKES ELECTIONS
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
MALPRACTICES How is it democratic then?
•Rigging of poll booths ~Independent Election
•Excessive use of Commission
money ~Popular Participation
•Misuse of facilities ~Acceptance of election
given by government outcome
 INDEPENDENT
WHAT ELECTION
MAKES ELECTIONS
COMMISSION
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
# An ‘Independent’ commision which ensures ‘democratic’ elections.

POWERS Key Facts

•It takes decisions on every aspect of •Enjoys same independence as
conduct and control of elections judiciary
•It implements Code of Conduct •The ‘Chief’ (CEC) is appointed by
•It orders government to follow some President
guidelines. •Not answerable to President
•When on election duty, Government after appointment
officers work under control of EC. •Virtually impossible to remove
the CEC.
•Can order repoll.
 WHAT MAKES ELECTIONS
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
# Quality of election->Participation of people (Enthusiasm)

•Voter’s turnout figure:

percentage of eligible voters who cast their votes.
•In India the poor, illiterate and unprivileged people vote in large
portion as compared to rich and privileged sections.
•Expectations of common people from elections are very high.
•The intrests of voters in election related activities has been
increasing over the years.
 WHAT MAKESOF
ACCEPTANCE ELECTIONS
ELECTION
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
OUTCOME
• Fair Election.
• Ruling parties always lose election (centre and state)Half of
MP and MLA lose elections.
• Criminal connection and those who invest lots of money
often lose election.
• Election accepts people verdicts.
 WHAT MAKESTO
CHALLENGES ELECTIONS
FREE AND
IN INDIA DEMOCRATIC?
FAIR ELECTIONS
(i) Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory
but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and
independents.
(ii) In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have
been able to secure a ticket. from major parties.
(iii) Some families tend to dominate the political parties, tickets are distributed
to relatives from these families.
(iv) Very often, elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens as both the
major parties are similar to each other in their policies and practices.
(v) Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage as
compared to the bigger parties.
 Credits
Adeeba Fatema
Anushka Verma
Ashita Roy
Gaurika Saxena
Jessica Fernandez