Electoral Process

II Semester BCA
REVA University
 Introduction
• Elections form the backbone of democracy wherein people elect their
political representatives and decide the composition of the government.
• Holding free and fair elections on a state and national level is integral to
upholding the principles of democratic set up in India.
• From parliamentary elections to the presidential polls, India goes through
the electoral process at regular intervals.
 The Process
• Formation of Constituencies
• Preparation of Electoral Rolls
• Filling of Nominations
• Scrutiny of Nominations
• Election Campaign
• Election Manifesto
• Electioneering (Activities and Techniques to Persuade Voters)
• Polling Process
• Counting of Votes and Declaration of Results
 Formation of Constituencies
• Constituencies are areas marked for people to elect their representatives
from.
• In India, each constituency has roughly a similar size of the population,
meaning the number of constituencies varies from state to state.
• This also implies that the number of seats (example, in Lok Sabha) is in
proportion to the population of the state.
 Preparation of Electoral Rolls
• The constituencies have people who vote for their representatives or can
even stand for elections themselves.
• ‘Electoral rolls’ are the lists of voters in one constituency.
• In India, there is universal franchise by law. Meaning, that every
individual, above the age of 18 has a right to vote and choose his
representative. And so all their names should appear in their respective
electoral rolls.
 Filling of Nominations
• The nomination of candidates is an important part of the election process.
• The regulations require that the candidate or the person who proposes his name file the
nomination papers with the Returning Officer.
• In order to be chosen a member of the Rajya Sabha or the State Legislative Council, The
Representation of the People act, as amended from time to time disqualifies a person
from the membership of a Legislature:
• if he has been found guilty of certain election offenses or corrupt practices in election
• if he has been convicted and sentenced to transportation or to imprisonment for not less than two years
• if he has been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State.
 Scrutiny of Nominations
• The Returning Officer scrutinizes the nomination papers very carefully. When someone is
dissatisfied, he is officially stopped from contesting election for six years. The candidates
can withdraw their nomination papers even after they have been found in order.
• Every candidate standing for election to the Lok Sabha or to State Legislative Assembly
has to make a security deposit of Rs. 10,000 arid Rs. 5,000 respectively. In case the
candidate belongs to any of the Scheduled Castes or Tribes, the security deposit is reduced
by half.
• The security deposit of such candidates as having obtained less than one-sixth of the total
number of valid votes polled is forfeited.
 Election Campaign
• Techniques of the election campaign and the tools employed by the parties
and the independent candidates are many:
• Election Manifesto: The parties issue their Election Manifestoes. A Manifesto is a
Statement of great significance. It is “a formal Statement of the Programme and
objectives of a political party” It deals with issues such as restructuring of Centre-State
relations, guarantees to religious or linguistic minorities, justice, and judicial reforms,
fiscal reform, economic growth, social justice, problems of the handicapped, health,
nutrition, education, defense and world peace. The Mani­festo contains programs and
promises, with a view to attracting the largest number of voters.
 Conti…
•  Electioneering (Activities and Techniques to Persuade Voters):
• The parties and the candi­dates usually make use of these techniques in order to carry their message to the voters
a) public meetings and rallies are organized and processions were taken out. The party leaders, espe­cially the crowd pullers, are
assigned the task to address public meetings;
b) the street corner meetings are held;
c) the candidates, along with the influential persons of the area, do door-to- door canvassing;
d) new slogans are coined to attract the masses;
e) advertisements are re­leased to the press (the popular daily and weekly newspapers); and
f) the Radio and the Televi­sion are pressed into service to broadcast the speeches and panel-discussions of leaders of various
parties.
g) Nowadays electronic media plays the most effective role in creating people’s awareness about programs of the political parties.
The party leaders give a series of interviews to newspapers and television agencies. Wide coverage is being given to all these
events at regular intervals.
 Polling Process
• The election campaign must be stopped 48 hours before the time when
poll concludes on the polling day.
• Presiding Officer supervises the whole of the polling process and ensures
that all persons working under him adhere to the electoral norms and
practices.
• The voter records his vote either by placing the seal-mark against the
name of the candidate he wants to vote for or by pressing the button of the
voting machine.
 NOTA - None of the Above in Indian
Elections
• On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India judged that citizens
have the right to a negative vote by exercising a "None of the above"
(NOTA) option.
• This was the result of petitioning from the Electoral Commission and the
People's Union for Civil Liberties from 2009. In November 2013, NOTA
was introduced in five state elections
 Counting of Votes and Declaration of
Results
• After the polling has ended the ballot boxes or the voting machines are
sealed and carried under custody to the counting stations. Then the
process of counting the votes begins.
 Indelible ink
• Research into an indelible ink was commenced by the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR).
• In the 1950s, M. L. Goel worked on this research at the Chemical Division of the
National Physical Laboratory of India.
• The ink used contains silver nitrate, which makes it photo-sensitive.
• It is stored in amber coloured plastic or brown coloured glass bottles. On application, the
ink remains on the fingernail for at least two days.
• It may last up to a month depending upon the person's body temperature and the
environment.
Thank You