Election Commission

The Election Commission of India is an autonomic responsible constitutional authority of India. It is under the ownership of the “Ministry of law and justice”. It provides the power, control, and direction of elections. The ECI ensures free and fair elections all over the country. This commission mainly holds the elections of the Lok Sabha of India. This commission aims to control the “multi-tiered” election process of India.

Election Commission of India

It is mainly a self-governing body of the Republic of India. It has control over the entire election process. The EIC was established on 25th January 1950. The headquarters of the ECI is in New Delhi. The ECI was a one-member body with the “Chief Election Commissioner” of India till 15th October 1989. From 16th October 1989, the Election Commissioner of India nominated two more election commissioners and then the age of voting was changed from 21 to 18. The ECI is a multi-member body and has three Election Commissioners. Thus, part XV of the constitution of India deals with the part of the elections. The “Article 324 to 329” deals with the eligibility, powers, tenure, and function of the Election Commission and members. The ECI controls supervise and direct the entire process of the election to the legislature, parliament, president, and vice president. It maintains the total electoral role of India. In a diverse geographical and political climate and environment, there were almost 700 million voters in almost 700000 polling booths of India in the last 21st century. India is one of the largest and most democratic countries in the world and as well as it has diversity in its population. 

Role of the ECI

The main and crucial role of the Election Commission of India is to implement and conduct the “free and fair” election in the whole country and take appropriate actions for any case of violence and violations. ECI has successfully conducted the elections of states and national since 1952 in India. The ECI upholds equality, imparity, equity, and independence all over India. ECI conducted the elections with standards of transparency, equality, fairness, autonomy, and integrity. On the other hand, it ensures the participation of the eligible citizens of India. This commission creates a voter-friendly and voter-centric environment that helps to conduct the vote securely. It also engages the stakeholders, voters, and political parties to enhance the electoral system of India. The main roles of the Election Commission of India are as follows-

• It is the guardian of the “free and fair” election of India
• He is the head of the parliamentary democracy
• It reduces and limits pole expenses
• ECI used scientific technologies and advancement for the good conduction of vote
• The commission has serious concerns over antisocial activities
• It creates a multi-member commission for the conduction of the vote

Structure of the ECI

The bureau of the Election Commission of India has 300 officials and its Headquarters are located in New Delhi. The Chief Election Commissioner is the head of the ECI. The president elects him, and he can serve the ECI  for 6 years, and he must retire at the age of 65. The Chief Election Commissioner is a member of the Civil Service of India. He can be removed by the impeachment process. The President can remove him, or he can also remove the other officers of the Chief Commissioner. The “Election Commissioner Amendment Act” of 1989 divides the ECI into a “multi-membered” body. There is mainly one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners were the main members of the ECI of India. The Chief Commissioners used to be the retired IAS officers of India. 

Function of ECI

The Election Commission of India has three main functions. It has the “administrative”, “Quasi-judicial” and “Advisory” powers. The constitution of India vested the power upon the ECI to conduct the elections of India fairly. It registers the citizens as per their eligibility to conduct a vote. ECI collects the annual reports of the political parties and the audited financial reports. The main functions of the ECI are as follows-

• It supervises and controls all elections at the state level and union level
• It set a general rule for the conduct of the election
• It grants and recognizes the political parties and allots the election symbols for those parties
• It issues the model code for the election
• The other most important function of the ECI is to create the election schedule for the entire election

Conclusion

It can be concluded that this chapter develops the idea about the Election Commission of India and the role, structure, and function of India has been discussed through the entire assignment. It is mainly a self-governing body of the Republic of India, and it maintains the total electoral role of India. This commission creates a voter-friendly and voter-centric environment that helps to conduct the vote securely. Thus, it conducts the “free and fair” election in the whole country.