Election Commission
•          Article 324 of the Constitution of India has provided for an Election Commission.
•          It is a permanent Constitutional body and is 3-Member Body.
•          The Election Commission was established on 25 January 1950. Originally the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. But, currently the commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners, appointed by the president of India. Which was seen as a move by politicians to curtail the commissioner's ability to act aggressively. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since 1993, with decision making power by majority vote.

Chief Election Commissioner
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Symbol of Election Commission
The President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
Service conditions of Chief Election Commissioner:
1.         Chief Election Commission shall be appointed for a term of 6 years or till he attain an age of 65 years.
2.         He is ineligible for reappointment after his retirement.
3.         He is ineligible to hold any office of profit under the State after his retirement.
4.         His salary, allowances and pensions are charged under Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
5.         His salaries, allowances and pensions cannot be reduced except during a financial emergency.
6.         He draws salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.

Election Commissioners
The Election Commissioners are appointed by the President and the President need not have to consult Chief Election Commissioner in this regard. However, the Election Commissioners will only be removed on the recommendation of Chief Election Commissioner.
 Election Commission service conditions:-
1.         An Election Commissioner is appointed for a term of 6 years or till he attains the age of 65 years.
2.         An Election Commissioner is eligible to be appointed as Chief Election Commissioner provided cumulatively his term as CEC and Election Commissioner shall not exceed 6 years.
3.         He is not eligible to hold any office of profit after his retirement.
4.         He draws salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.

Removal of Chief Election Commissioner
•          The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office by Parliament with two-thirds majority in LokSabha and Rajya Sabha  only on ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.
•          Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Deputy Election Commissioner
 The Election Commission is assisted by the Deputy Election Commissioners who are appointed by the Commission and drawn from the Civil Service. They are in turn assisted by the Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Under Secretaries who are posted in the Secretariat of the Commission.

Chief Electoral Officer
 At State level, Election Commission is assisted by Chief Electoral Officer who is appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner . At district level, Collector is the District Returning Officer and he appoints Returning Officers for every Constituency and Presiding Officer of every polling booth.

Flaws of Election Commission:
1. No qualifications have been prescribed for the members of the Commission in the Constitution.

2. Their term has not been prescribed in the Constitution.
3. They can be appointed further by the government itself.


Powers and Functions can be grouped under 3 categories
1. Administrative

2. Advisory
3. Quasi judicial

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The main functions of the Election Commission are as under:
1. To conduct free, fair and peaceful elections. Delimitation of constituencies i.e. determine the areas of constituencies by the Delimitation Act of the Parliament.

2. Register all voters and prepare electoral roll and get them revised before every election.
3. Notify the dates and schedules of elections
4. Grant recognition to parties and allot symbols to them
5. Settling of disputes between political parties.
6. Appoint officers to settle disputes related to electoral arrangements.
7. Determine the code of conduct that the candidates and their parties should  observe.
8. Publicise policies of political parties on radio and T.V.
9. Advise President on matters related to disqualification of member of Parliament.
10.Advise the Governor on matters related to disqualification of members of State Legislature.
11. Cancel polls during booth capturing, rigging, irregularities or violence etc.
12. Request the President or Governor for requisitioning of the staff necessary to conduct elections.
13. Supervise the machinery of elections for free and fair elections.
14. Advise President whether elections can be held in a state under President's rule
15. Granting the status of national parties or state parties to political parties on the basis of their performance.

16. To conduct the elections of:
               •   President,
               •   Vice-President,
               •  members of both the Houses of Parliament,
               • Members of Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils of various States.
17. Limits on Poll Expenses
18. Prohibition on Publication and disseminating of results of opinion polls (Exit Polls)

Important Points on Election Commission asked in various Exams
  • For the first time in any parliamentary election, voters will have the provision to go for 'None of the Above' option among the candidates in 16th Lok Sabha Elections.
  • 25 January is now celebrated as National Voters Day.
  • Seat  of Election Commission: Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi
  • 1st Chief Election Commissioners - Sukumar Sen
  • VV Sampath is 16th Chief Election Commissioner.
  • Salary of Chief Election Commissioner - Rs.90,000 per month.
  • The tenure of T.N. Seshan (CEC), from 1990-1996 is widely credited with undertaking a zealous effort to end corruption and manipulation in Indian elections.
  • In 1993 EPICs – Electoral Photo Identity Cards were first issued.
  • The EVMs were commissioned in 1989 by Election Commission of India in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore.
  • EVMs were first used in 1981 in the by-election to North Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala for a limited number of polling stations (50 polling stations).
  • EVMs can record a maximum of 3840 votes. As normally the total number of electors in a polling station will not exceed 1500, the capacity of EVMs is more than sufficient.
  • EVMs can cater to a maximum of 64 candidates.
  • EVMs run on an ordinary 6 volt alkaline battery manufactured by Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bangalore and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabad.
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