Electoral Politics - Class 9 Civics - Extra Questions

The Election Commission of India is powerful enough to conduct free and fair elections:

After announcement of election, it is not legal to announce policy decisions according to Code of Conduct. The minister should be immediately taken to task by the Election Commission.

There is a high level of popular participation in the elections:

• Voter turnout has increased over the past years.
  
• Election-related activities in the last few years have seen a larger participation by the people.

The statement is wrong because the policy of secret ballot ensures that an individual can vote for whoever he/she wants. Women are fully capable of taking decisions on their own and selecting the candidate they like.

The presence of the fake voters means that the elections were rigged by the authorities who prepared the electoral rolls. The election commission should supervise preparation of fresh electoral rolls.

She have to look on counting is carried out, representatives of all parties present at counting area in order to avoid malpractices.

It is not very easy for the party in power to win an election:

• The ruling parties routinely lose elections.
  
• Candidates who are known to spend a lot of money often lose elections.
  

This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.

It stresses on, political equality. It means that everyone in the country irrespective of the caste, colour, gender, creed and income earned is allowed to vote for his own representative, i.e., the choice and opportunity is available to all the citizens on an equal basis without any discrimination on the basis of gender, caste, colour,etc. The policy of one persons one vote, and one value should be followed in a democracy.

It may prove dangerous if political parties and candidates are given freedom to conduct their election campaigns the way they want to. So, it is essential to regulate campaigns to ensure that every political party and candidate gets a fair and equal chance to compete. According to our election law, no party or candidate can 
(i) bribe or threaten voters; 
(ii) appeal to them in the name of caste or religion; 
(iii) use government resources for election campaign; and 
(iv) spend more than 25 lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or 10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election. 
If they do so, their election can be rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected.

In order to be a candidate in general lok sabha elections the minimum age is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter.

Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election.

Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders. 
They know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections. 

Election, in its literal sense, means to choose or to opt. It is the process in a democratic nation which provides for choosing of leaders or representative by the people in an organized manner from the options of political parties or candidates they have before them.

In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll or the Voters' List.

There are two types of elections that take place in India.When elections are held regularly after every five years this is called a general election. But sometimes election is held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election. Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly after every five years. After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands 'dissolved'.

The election in India is comprised of various stages: 
(i) Electoral Constituencies: First of all, the whole country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections. These areas are called electoral constituencies. 
The voters who live in an area elect the one representative. 
(ii) Voters' List: Once the constituencies are decided, the next step is to decide who can and who cannot vote. This decision cannot be left to anyone till the last day. In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone.
(iii) Nomination of Candidates: Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a nomination form by the due date, which the Election Commission fixes. Every candidate has to give some money as security deposit alongwith nomination form. 
(iv) Election Campaign: Election campaigns take place for a two-week period between the announcement of the final list of candidates and the date of polling. During this period the candidates contact their voters, political leaders address election meetings and political parties mobilise their supporters. 
(v) Polling and Counting of Votes: The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or poll their vote. That day is usually called the election day. Every person whose name is on the voters' list can go to a nearby polling booth. Once the voter goes inside the booth, the election officials identify him/her,  put a mark on his/her finger and allow him/her to cast his/her vote. There are electronic voting machines (EVMs) which are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. What the voter has to do is to press the button against the name of the candidate he/she wants to give his/her vote. 
Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on a fixed date, all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected. 

The Election Commission prepares, maintains and periodically updates the Electoral Rolls, which show who is entitled to vote, supervises the nomination of candidates, registers political parties, monitors the election campaign, including the funding and exponential by candidates.

The demerits of an electoral competition are given below: 
(i) It creates disunity and factionalism in every locality. People often complain of party-politics. 
(ii) Different political parties and leaders often level allegations against one another. Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections. 
(iii) It is often said that the pressure to win electoral fights does not allow sensible long term policies to be formulated. Some good people may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena. They do not like the idea of being dragged into unhealthy competition.

The literacy rate in India is still 74% of the population. Even if the law is changed to qualify only literate persons (knows to read and write one language), to stand in elections, you will be leaving out 26% of the population. Only 8.15% of Indian adults are graduates. So if you amend the law to only qualify graduates to stand in elections you will miss out 92% of the population. Only when the literacy rate and college graduation rates increase to very high levels (at least 90% of population) you can make minimum educational qualifications for standing in elections.

The method adopted to get approval of citizens on the law passed by the legislature is called plebiscite and the decision is taken by the people themselves.

In this case, representatives of each candidate should be present to make sure that the votes are counted in a fair way.

People's participation in election is usually measured by voter turnout figures. Turnout indicates the per cent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote. Over the last fifty years in India the turnout has either remained stable or actually gone up. 
(a) In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections. This is in contrast to western democracies. For example in the United states of America, poor people, African Americans and Hispanics vote much less than the rich and the white people. 
(b) Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections. They feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programmes favourable to them. They also feel that their vote matters in the way things are run in the country. 
(c) The interests of voters in election related activities have been increasing over the years. During the 2004 elections, more than one third voters Wok part in campaign-related activities.

She will have to focus on various duties such as ensuring that 

She will have to cross check the voters list and check ID proof of the voters, booth capturing not take place. Ensure that Free and fair election should be conducted.

This decision does not go against the principles of democratic elections. Any person who is convicted for a crime has no right to contest the election.

There should be a single election commission which should be free from political influence and should be responsible for conducting elections throughout the country.

The election commission must ensure that all political party are given equal opportunity to appear on Doordarshan and All India Radio. EC take action against misuse of this media.

Certain Reforms are necessary to make our elections completely freeand fair:

• To ensure that independent and small parties not suffer in elections.
  
• To ensure candidates with criminal records not participate.

The election commission should set up an enquiry into the case and debar the candidate or party involved in distributing such pamphlets.

By using hoodlums, the political party is terrorising its rivals. The election commission should order the arrest of the hoodlums and bar the party from the elections.

Ans- True

The name of the MP from my constituency,_____(constituency name) is _____(name of MP) of _____(political party name). There are ____( No. of MPs in your state) MPs in my state.
Certain constituencies are coloured green while others are coloured blue because they are reserved constituencies for ST and SC respectively.

Making of voters list $$\rightarrow$$ Announcing election schedule $$\rightarrow$$ Releasing election manifesto $$\rightarrow$$ Election campaign $$\rightarrow$$ Filing nomination $$\rightarrow$$ Casting of votes $$\rightarrow$$ Ordering of re-poll $$\rightarrow$$ Counting of votes $$\rightarrow$$ Declaration of election results.