The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections to parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice-president of India shall be vested in the Election Commission.
The Election Commission is an all-India body in the sense that it is common to both the Central government and the state governments. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, State Legislative Councils and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election. It is a permanent constitutional body.
Structure and tenure
The commission was established in 1950 and originally only had one Chief Election Commissioner. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989. But their tenure ended on January 1, 1990. The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1989″ was adopted on 1 January 1990 which turned the commission into a multi-member body: a 3-member Commission has been in operation since then and the decisions by the commission are made by a majority vote.
The commission is served by its secretariat located in New Delhi. The Election Commissioners are assisted by Deputy Election Commissioners, who are generally IAS officers. They are further assisted by Directors General, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries.
At the state level, the Election Commission is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank. At the district and constituency levels, the District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work.
The tenure of election commissioners is not prescribed by the Indian Constitution. However, according to the 1991 Election Commission Act, the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner shall hold office for a term of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, from the date on which he/she assumes his/her office.
Removal
The Chief Election Commissioner of India can be represented removed from their office. Through the similar process as the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court of India which requires a resolution passed by the Parliament of India a two-thirds majority in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. A Chief Election Commissioner has never been impeached in India.
Functions
- The Election Commission issues a Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to conduct elections in a free and fair manner. The commission issued the Code of Conduct for the first time in 1971 for the 5th Lok Sabha elections and has revised it from time to time.
- It lays down guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during an election period. The code does not have any specific statutory basis but only a persuasive effect. It contains the rules of electoral morality. However, this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the commission from enforcing it.
- A law for the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989 and some parties got registered with the commission. The registration helps avoid confusion and ensures that the political parties are brought under the purview of the commission.
- The election commission has the right to allow symbols to the political parties. It gives recognition to the national, state and regional parties. It sets limits on poll expenses. It is noteworthy that the Election Commission cannot allow the same symbol to two regional political parties even if they are not in the same state.
- The commission prepares electoral rolls and updates the voter’s list from time to time. Notifications of dates and schedules of election for filing nominations are issued by the commission.
- The Election Commission, by appointing expenditure observers from the Indian Revenue Service, keeps an eye on the individual account of election expenditure. The commission takes details of the candidate’s assignment in an affidavit at the time of submitting the nomination paper, and they are also required to give details of their expenditure within 30 days of the declaration of results.
- The Election Commission may approach the Supreme Court to put a lifetime ban on convicted politicians from contesting elections.
Voter ID
To prevent electoral fraud, in 1993, EPICs or Electors Photo Identity Cards were issued, which became mandatory by the 2004 elections. However ration cards have been allowed for election purposes in certain situations.
RONET
Software mobile application, developed for the Election Commission of India, by 01 Synergy, makes the voting process less cumbersome and ensures that the general public knows the candidates in an election. The RONet suite of web and mobile applications is for all stakeholders involved in the election process.
ECI 360
The ECI 360 mobile application was developed for the general public — which comprises signed affidavits of the contesting candidates, a list of rejected candidates, the final list of candidates, pickup requests for voters with disability, queue status (people waiting in line to cast votes), real-time poll booth-wise polling percentage, grievance redressal, and the results. The candidate app of ECI 360 allows them to request permissions for rallies and is also mapped with redressal systems, which ensures that all the issues are sorted at the earliest.”
The Present Election Commissioners of India
- Chief Election Commissioner– Sh. Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner in ECI since 1st September 2020, took charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner on 15th May 2022. Prior to assuming charge in the Election Commission, Sh. Rajiv Kumar had been Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board during April-August 2020; Finance Secretary of India from July 2019 to Feb 2020 ; Secretary, Financial Services from September 2017 to July 2019 and Establishment Officer from March 2015 to June 2017. Sh. Rajiv Kumar, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service of Bihar/Jharkhand cadre 1984 batch, superannuated in February 2020.
- Election Commissioner– Shri Gyanesh Kumar took charge as Election Commissioner in Election Commission of India on the 15th of March, 2024. He is a 1988 Batch Kerala Cadre Officer of the lndian Administrative Service. After completing his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from llT Kanpur, he has studied Business Finance from lCFAl, lndia and Environmental Economics from HllD, Harvard University, USA.
- Election Commissioner– Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu joined as Election Commissioner in Election Commission of India on 15th March, 2024. He is 1988 batch IAS officer from Uttarakhand Cadre. He served as Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand from July 2021 to January 2024. Before that, he served as Chairman, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for about 2 years. After Superannuating in January 2024, he briefly served as Secretary, Lokpal of India. He also served in Government of India as Additional Secretary, Higher Education, where he looked after IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs etc.