Electoral Reform In India

“An Election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.” - George Bernard Shaw The most important feature of Our democratic setup are ‘Elections’ which are held at a systematic period. Electoral Reform is a very basic and pertinent concern which helps in choosing a government/ political party in a country for governing the Administration and legislative functions. It is an official decision-making process by which a population elects an individual to hold public office. By Electoral reform we mean that, introducing fair electoral system for accompanying impartial elections. It can also be defined as “a system by which voters or electors, select their representatives by casting of

Lieberman

Election forms the backbone of our democracy. Our democratic setup confers on us, i.e. , the right to elect the representatives of the state . Besides, the elected people have the right to choose the head of the state. The welfare of the people in any country shall be ensured by the Governance. In India, the Constitution was framed to ensure welfare by an equitable distribution of national wealth and resources. In any Parliamentary democracy, political parties are indispensable. There are approximately 1,200 political parties in India and of these about 150 are functioning and are involved in active politics.

Elections are the most important and integral part of politics in a democratic system of governance. While politics is the art and practice of dealing with political power, election is a process of legitimization of such power. The essence of any democratic system is the healthy functioning of political parties and consequently, free and fair

The Indian Electoral system has been broadly divided into two categories, they are direct elections based on territorial constituencies and proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The first system is followed for the election of the members of Lok Sabha, State Assemblies and Union Territories’Assemblies. The second elections are held on the basis of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote for the President and the Vice-President of India, members of Rajya Sabha and members of Legislative councils.

The main features of the Indian electoral system:

1. Elections are held on the basis of Universal Adult Franchise. One who is a citizen of India and not less than 18 years of age can register as a voter in electoral roll of India. There is no discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex or any of these factors. 2. There is a provision for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (84 Seats ) and Scheduled Tribes (47 Seats) in Lok Sabha and Assemblies of State and Union Territories, but there is no such provision of reservations in Rajya Sabha at the Union level and Legislative councils at the State