What is Meant by Simultaneous Elections

The March-April elections in four states and one territory of India may have aggravated a splurge of Covid infections. There must be a thoughtful discussion on “one nation, one election”, considering the hassles that multiple elections can cause. The arguments against simultaneous elections and the advantages must be discussed to formulate a solution.

What Is Meant By Simultaneous Elections?

What is meant by simultaneous elections can be understood in the following points.

• The idea has been in the talking since 1983, when the Election Commission initially proposed the election duty for assembly.

• This concept’s main five areas: the financial expenses of holding elections, administrative freezes, security deployments and the campaign and funding expenses of political parties — need to be discussed and debated.

• In some situations, the expenditures of an assembly or parliamentary election may be incomprehensible.

•  Direct budgeted expenditures for a state the size of Bihar are around Rs 300 crore. We also have to take into account other costs. Every election necessitates a “revision” of the electoral rolls.

Additional Cost

The MCC incurs additional costs. When the MCC notices, no work can be awarded or tenders can be finalised. Delays lead to cost overruns. Payroll and administrative expenses will remain extraordinarily expensive for the Tamil Nadu government.

As a result, there is also the hidden cost of a lack of leadership. A politician is required to hold the office of the minister. Ministerial duties take up a significant amount of time for the maximum of those, even if they work 16-18 hours daily. It’s impossible to gauge the full extent of the consequences and expenses associated with putting off crucial meetings and decisions.

Expenses in both money and time are made regularly. Elections are held at least once per year in the country and each state, according to a document from the NITI Aayog. Having two elections simultaneously would be more than triple the costs in economics and the budget. Politicians’ expenses are included.

Concerns

Concerns about the centre gaining influence or regional parties bearing the losses in the simultaneous elections appear unfounded. The federal-state government will no longer be able to suspend and dilute the state legislatures if their terms are set at five years. Simultaneous elections tend to sway voters in one direction, favouring the centrally powerful party at the expense of regional parties. Those who share this view should be reminded of this fact. Votes cast in this manner may help regional parties obtain a majority in Parliament and, consequently, acquire access to the federal administration.

It will be necessary to amend the Constitution and other legislation. Even in countries where the constitution is revised on average once every two years, this does not constitute a reason to oppose the plan.

A single election for the entire country Initiated a plan to hold elections for all of India’s legislative bodies at the same time, five times a year.

The “Simultaneous Elections” method, which intends to synchronise the Indian election cycle, will hold Lok Sabha and State Assemblies elections at the same time.

Advantages of simultaneous elections

The proposed advantages of simultaneous elections are listed below-

• If polling and party spending were kept under control, a large amount of public money could be saved and used for other good initiatives.

• To achieve a political advantage in an assembly election, it is typical to see leaders postpone difficult long-term decisions that could benefit their country in the long run. 

• As a result, the state government’s use of populist measures will be reduced, and strengthening governance is a major advantage of simultaneous elections.

• Administrative and security structures must be relieved of the pressure to ensure that the state government programmes are implemented on schedule and that the administrative machinery does not become a political tool.

• As an advantage of simultaneous elections, all stakeholders, including political parties, the Election Commission of India (ECI), paramilitary forces, and the general public, should have more time to prepare for elections every five years.

Arguments Against Simultaneous Elections

Arguments against simultaneous elections are as follows-

• Coordinated state-federal voting in the United States Elections in all of India’s states and the federal state government must be coordinated because of the country’s Parliamentary system.

•  The state government will probably fall before its term is over since the lower house holds it accountable. 

• Holding a vote is essential in this situation.

• Infrastructure spending will rise due to the ECI’s responsibility to provide two sets of electronic voting machines and voter-verified paper audit trails. There will be twice as many required (one for election to the Legislative Assembly and the second for the Lok Sabha).

• To protect polling workers, new security measures must be implemented because of an increase in the workload of the Tamil Nadu government.

Conclusion

Considering the hassles that orthodox election in India brings along with the economic and social troubles for the nation, it is high time to discuss other parallel ways to implement a more sustainable form of elections. Simultaneous elections can emerge as a viable option if implemented properly. Hence the nation must discuss the same and understand What is meant by simultaneous elections and the advantages of simultaneous elections, along with the arguments against simultaneous elections.