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Election Commission of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

Election Commission of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, constitutionally established federal authority responsible for administering all the electoral processes in the Republic of India. Under the supervision of the commission, free and fair elections have been held in India at regular intervals as per the principles enshrined in the Constitution. Election Commission of India is a permanent body governed by rules specified in the constitution. The Election Commission was established on 25 January 1950. The Election Commission has the power of superintendence, direction and control of all elections to parliament and the state legislatures and of elections to the office of the President and Vice-President.[2]

Election Commission of India

Election Commission of India Agency overview Formed Jurisdiction Agency executives 25 January 1950 (National Voters Day) India [ V Sundaram Sampath. ], Chief Election Commissioner Harishankar Brahma, Election Commissioner

Headquarters New Delhi

The commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, Election Commissioners, appointed by the president of Commissioner[1] India. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on Website 16 October 1989 but they had a very short tenure eci.nic.in (http://eci.nic.in) till 1 January 1990. Later, on 1 October 1993, two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision making power by majority vote.[3] The current CEC is V Sundaram Sampath. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office by Parliament with two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as per the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992.[4] All three commissioners have equal rights of decision making.

Contents
1 Functions 1.1 Model Code of Conduct 1.2 Applicability of Code During General Elections And By-elections 2 Budget and Expenditure 3 Chief Election Commissioner of India 4 Judicial Review 5 New Initiatives 6 Coordination with other agencies
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7 References

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Election Commission of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

7 References 8 External links

Functions
1. Follow the Constitutional duties for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections to the Parliament and the State Legislatures under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. 2. Ensure that political party(ies) in power, including ruling parties at the Centre and in the States and contesting candidates follow the Model Code Of Conduct. 3. Ensure that official machinery is not misused for electoral purposes. 4. Ensure that electoral offenses, malpractices and corrupt practices such as impersonation, bribing and inducement of voters, threat and intimidation to the voters are prevented by all means.[5]

The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President held under this Constitution shall be vested in a Commission (referred to in this Constitution as the Election Commission). Article 324(1), Constitution of India[6][7]

Model Code of Conduct

The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates is a set of norms which has been evolved with the consensus of political parties who have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code and also binds them to respect and observe it in its letter and spirit.[5]

Applicability of Code During General Elections And By-elections

Code of conduct is applicable during: General elections to House of People (Lok Sabha): The code is applicable throughout the country. General elections to the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha): The code is applicable in the entire State. By-elections: The code is applicable in the entire district or districts in which the constituency falls.[5]

Budget and Expenditure

Secretariat of the Commission has an independent budget, which is finalised directly in consultation between the Commission and the Finance Ministry of the Union Government. The latter generally accepts the recommendations of the Commission for its budgets. The major expenditure on actual conduct of elections is, however, reflected in the budgets of the concerned constituent units of the Union - States and Union Territories. If elections are being held only for the Parliament, the expenditure is borne entirely by the Union Government while for the elections being held only for the State Legislature, the expenditure is borne entirely by the concerned State. In case of simultaneous elections to the Parliament and State Legislature, the expenditure is shared equally between the Union and the State Governments. For Capital equipment, expenditure related to preparation for electoral rolls and the scheme for Electors' Identity Cards too, the expenditure is shared
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Election Commission of India - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

equally.[8]

Chief Election Commissioner of India

Main article: Chief Election Commissioner of India The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India. The President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament. [3]

Judicial Review
The decisions of the Commission can be challenged in the High Court and the Supreme Court by appropriate petitions. By long standing convention and several judicial pronouncements, once the actual process of elections has started, the judiciary does not intervene in the actual conduct of the polls. Once the polls are completed and result declared, the Commission cannot review any result on its own. This can only be reviewed through the process of an election petition, which can be filed before the High Court, in respect of elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures. In respect of elections for the offices of the President and Vice President, such petitions can only be filed before the Supreme Court.[3]

New Initiatives
The Commission has taken several new initiatives in the recent past. Notable among these are: a scheme for use of State owned Electronic Media for broadcast/telecast by Political parties, checking criminalisation of politics, computerisation of electoral rolls, providing electors with Identity Cards, simplifying the procedure for maintenance of accounts and filling of the same by candidates and a variety of measures for strict compliance of Model Code of Conduct, for providing a level playing field to contestants during the elections. [3]

Coordination with other agencies

Investigation Division of the Central Board of Direct Taxes is coordinating with the Election Commission of India (ECI) for controlling political expenditure and verification of affidavits filed by candidates of political parties. [[Indian Revenue Service]] officers are deputed to act as election observers in many districts

References
1. ^ "Zaidi is new Election Commissioner" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3723367.ece) . 4 August 2012. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3723367.ece. 2. ^ "A Constitutional Body" (http://www.eci.gov.in/about-eci/the_setup.aspx) . Election Commission of India. http://www.eci.gov.in/about-eci/the_setup.aspx. 3. ^ a b c d "A Constitutional Body" (http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/the_setup.aspx) . Election Commission of India. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/the_setup.aspx. 4. ^ "Q 7. What is the status Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners in terms of salaries and allowances etc.?" (http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/election-machinery.aspx) . Election Commission of India. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/election-machinery.aspx. 5. ^ a b c "Model Code of Conduct" (http://web.archive.org/web/20101005100023/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/Model_Code_Conduct.pdf) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Commission_of _India . Election
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(http://web.archive.org/web/20101005100023/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/Model_Code_Conduct.pdf) . Election Commission Of India. Archived from the original (http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/Model_Code_Conduct.pdf) on 5 October 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20101005100023/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/Model_Code_Conduct.pdf. Retrieved 4 October 2012. 6. ^ "Article 324, Constitution of India" (http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/Constitution/S324.htm) . Constitution of India. VakilNo1.com. http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/Constitution/S324.htm. Retrieved 19 October 2012. 7. ^ "Article 324 in The Constitution Of India" (http://web.archive.org/web/20100927054752/http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/950881/) . IndianKanoon.org. Archived from the original (http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/950881/) on 27 Sep 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100927054752/http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/950881/. Retrieved 19 October 2012. 8. ^ "About ECI" (http://www.eci.gov.in/about-eci/the_setup.asp#introduction) . Election Commission of India. http://www.eci.gov.in/about-eci/the_setup.asp#introduction.

External links
Official website (http://eci.nic.in) Links to Official Web Sites of Chief Electoral Officers of 28 States and 7 UTs (http://www.eci.nic.in/Links/Links.asp) ECI's Online Voters List (http://search.eci.gov.in/) Options: 'Voter Name' search Parliamentary, Assembly constituency wise. Also one can get full Electoral Rolls 'Voting Booth' wise. Election Commission of India Gets Political Infection, Democracy at Receiving End (http://abclive.in/abclive_investigative_news/navin_chawla_congress_n_gopalaswami_election_commissio n_india.html) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_Commission_of_India&oldid=525303889" Categories: Indian commissions 1950 establishments in India Election Commission of India Government agencies established in 1950 Executive branch of the Indian government Election commissions This page was last modified on 28 November 2012 at 10:39. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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