Elections in India
India is a country, divided in states and union territories, with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which defines the power distribution among the federal government and the states.
The President of India is the ceremonial head of the country and supreme commander-in-chief for all defence forces in India.
However, it is the Prime Minister of India, who is the leader of the party or political alliance having a majority in the national elections to the Lok Sabha, that exercises most executive powers for matters that require countrywide affection under a federal system.
India is regionally divided into States and each State has a Chief Minister who is the leader of the party or political alliance having won majority in the regional elections otherwise known as State Assembly Elections that exercises executive powers in that State. The respective State's Chief Minister has executive powers within the State and works jointly with the Prime Minister of India or his ministers on matters that require both State and Central attention. Some Union Territories also elect an Assembly and have a territorial government and other Union Territories are governed by a person appointed by the President of India.
The President of India monitors the rule of law through his appointed governors in each State and on their recommendation can take over the executive powers from the Chief Minister of the State, temporarily when the elected representatives of the State government has failed to create a peaceful environment and has deteriorated into chaos. The President of India dissolves the existing State government if necessary, and a new election is conducted.
Election Commission
is a federal body, enacted under the provisions of the Constitution, responsible for monitoring and administering all the electoral processes of India. This body is responsible for ensuring elections are free and fair, without any bias.Election Commission ensures the conduct of members pre-elections, during elections and post-elections are as per the statutory legislation.
All election related disputes are handled by the Election Commission. The Supreme Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a given situation in the conduct of elections, the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the Constitution to act in appropriate manner.
Types of Elections
Elections in the Republic of India include elections for :- Members of the Parliament in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,
- Members of State Legislative Assemblies,,
- Members of State Legislative Councils,
- Members in village panchayats or city corporation councils.
- By-election is held when a person of a particular constituent dies, resigns, or is disqualified.
General Elections (Lok Sabha)
History of Lok Sabha Elections
;Key:* : 12 seats in Assam and 1 in Meghalaya did not vote.
State Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) Elections
Members of State Legislative Assembly, are elected directly by voting, from a set of candidates who stands in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their constituency. Candidates who win the State Legislative Assemblies elections are called 'Member of Legislative Assembly' and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the Governor. The house meets in the respective state, on matters relating to creation of new laws, removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens living in that state.Total strength of each assembly depends on each State, mostly based on size and population. Similar to Lok sabha elections, leader of the majority party/alliance takes oath as Chief Minister of the State.
| State/UT | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
| AP | 1955 1957 | 1962 1967 | 1972 1978 | 1983 1985 1989 | 1994 1999 | 2004 2009 | 2014 2019 | |
| AR | 1978 | 1980 1984 | 1990 1995 1999 | 2004 2009 | 2014 2019 | |||
| AS | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 | 1972 1978 | 1983 1985 | 1991 1996 | 2001 2006 | 2011 2016 | |
| BR | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 1969 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1995 | 2000 2005 2005 | 2010 2015 | 2020 |
| CG | State didn't existed | State didn't existed | State didn't existed | State didn't existed | State didn't existed | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | |
| DL | 1952 | 1993 1998 | 2003 2008 | 2013 2015 | 2020 | |||
| GA | 1967 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1984 1989 | 1994 1999 | 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | ||
| GJ | 1962 1967 | 1972 1975 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1995 1998 | 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | ||
| HR | 1967 1968 | 1972 1977 | 1982 1987 | 1991 1996 | 2000 2005 2009 | 2014 2019 | ||
| HP | 1952 | 1967 | 1972 1977 | 1985 | 1990 1993 1998 | 2003 2007 | 2012 2017 | |
| JK | 1951 1957 | 1962 1967 | 1972 1977 | 1983 1987 | 1996 | 2002 2008 | 2014 | 2021 |
| JH | 2005 2009 | 2014 | ||||||
| KA | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 | 1972 1978 | 1983 1985 1989 | 1994 1999 | 2004 2008 | 2013 2018 | |
| KL | 1957 | 1960 1965 1967 | 1970 1977 | 1980 1982 1987 | 1991 1996 | 2001 2006 | 2011 2016 | |
| MP | Bhopal 1952 MB 1952 MP 1952 VP 1952 1957 | 1967 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1993 1998 | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | |
| MH | 1962 1967 | 1972 1978 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1995 1999 | 2004 2009 | 2014 2019 | ||
| MN | 1967 | 1972 1974 | 1980 1984 | 1990 1995 | 2000 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | ||
| ML | 1972 1978 | 1983 1988 | 1993 1998 | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | |||
| MZ | 1972 1978 1979 | 1984 1987 1989 | 1993 1998 | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | |||
| NL | 1964 1969 | 1974 1977 | 1982 1987 1989 | 1993 1998 | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | ||
| OD | 1952 1957 | 1961 1967 | 1971 1974 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1995 | 2000 2004 2009 | 2014 2019 | |
| PB | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 1969 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1992 1997 | 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | |
| PY | 1964 1969 | 1974 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1991 1996 | 2001 2006 | 2011 2016 | ||
| RJ | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1985 | 1990 1993 1998 | 2003 2013 | 2018 | |
| SK | 1979 | 1985 1989 | 1994 1999 | 2004 2009 | 2014 | |||
| TN | MS 1952 MS 1957 | MS 1962 MS 1967 | 1971 1977 | 1980 1984 1989 | 1991 1996 | 2001 2006 | 2011 2016 | |
| TS | 2018 | |||||||
| TR | 2003 2008 | 2013 2018 | ||||||
| UP | 1951 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 1969 | 1972 1977 | 1980 1985 1989 | 1991 1993 1996 | 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | |
| UK | 2002 2007 | 2012 2017 | ||||||
| WB | 1952 1957 | 1962 1967 1969 | 1971 1972 1977 | 1982 1987 | 1991 1996 | 2001 2006 | 2011 2016 |
By-election
As the name suggests, when an elected candidate to either the State Assembly, Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha leaves the office vacant before their term ends, a by election is conducted to find a suitable replacement to fill the vacant position. It is often referred in India as Bypolls.Common reasons for by elections :
- Sitting MLA resigns once he gets elected as MP.
- Sitting MLA or MP died.
Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Elections
The Rajya Sabha, also known as the Council of States, is the upper house of India's Parliament. Candidates are not elected directly by the citizens, but by the Members of Legislative Assemblies and up to 12 can be nominated by the President of India for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha get a tenure of six years, with one-third of the body facing re-election every two years. Rajya Sabha acts as a second-level review body before a bill becomes an act.The Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions.
The Legislative proposals are brought before either house of the Parliament in the form of a bill. A bill is the draft of a legislative proposal, which, when passed by both houses of Parliament and assented to by the President, becomes an Act of Parliament.
The Constitution of India however places some restrictions on the Rajya Sabha which makes the Lok Sabha more powerful in certain areas. For example, it stipulates that Money bills must originate in the Lok Sabha.
Members of Rajya Sabha debate bills sent by the Lok Sabha and can approve, reject or send the bill back to the Lok Sabha for further debate and discussion on the matter, as well as to suggest better changes in the drafted bill. Members of Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations to the Lok Sabha for money bills within 14 days. Even if Rajya Sabha fails to return the money bill in 14 days to the Lok Sabha, that bill is deemed to have passed by both the Houses. Also, if the Lok Sabha rejects any of the amendments proposed by the Rajya Sabha, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament of India in the form the Lok Sabha finally passes it.
Electoral procedures
Candidates are required to file their nomination papers with the Electoral Commission. Then, a list of candidates is published. No party is allowed to use government resources for campaigning. No party is allowed to bribe the candidates before elections. The government cannot start a project during the election period. Campaigning ends by 6:00 pm two days before the polling day.The polling is held between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employees are employed as poll officers at the polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines are being used instead of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud. After the citizen votes his or her left index finger is marked with an indelible ink. This practice was instituted in 1962.
Indelible ink
Research into an indelible ink was commenced by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 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.Electronic voting
BHAVIK were first used in the 1997 election and became the only method of voting in 2004. The EVMs save time in reporting results. A voter-verified paper audit trail was introduced on 14 August 2014 in Nagaland. In the 2014 general election, VVPAT was operational in 8 constituencies as a pilot project. A slip generated by the VVPAT tells a voter to which party or candidate their vote has been given, their name, their constituency and their polling booth.Opposition parties demanded that VVPAT be made mandatory all over India due to allegations on the government of hacking the EVM. Accordingly, Voter-verified paper audit trail and EVMs were used in every assembly and general election in India since 2019. On 9 April 2019, Supreme Court of India gave the judgement, ordering the Election Commission of India to increase VVPAT slips vote count to five randomly selected EVMs per assembly constituency, which means Election Commission of India has to count VVPAT slips of 20,625 EVMs in 2019 General elections. VVPAT enables voters to cross-check whether the vote they have given goes to their desired candidate as the VVPAT unit produces a paper slip, additionally called ballot slip, that contains the name, serial number, and image of the candidate selected by the voter for his vote. Post the 2019 general election, ECI declared that no mismatches between EVM and VVPAT.