Chapter 3 - Electoral Politics

In Chapter 3 of Class 9 Civics, you will understand how the representatives are elected. The chapter begins with the topic of why elections are necessary and useful in a democracy. Then it further explains how electoral competition among parties serves the people. The basic idea that this chapter tries to convey is to distinguish democratic elections from non-democratic elections. So, go through Vidyakul CBSE Notes Class 9 Political Science Chapter 3 on Electoral Politics and get a deep understanding of this chapter.

After going through these Vidyakul CBSE notes, you will get to know the points that make an election democratic. These Vidyakul CBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes will help you in revision as well.

Why Do We Need Elections?

Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than 100 countries in the world in which elections take place to choose people’s representatives. The mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them whenever they want to is called an election.

In an election the voters make many choices:

They can choose who will make laws for them.

They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions.

They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law-making.

What Makes an Election Democratic?

The minimum conditions of a democratic election include the following points.

Everyone should be able to choose their own representative.

Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.

Elections must be held regularly after every few years.

The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.

Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

Is it Good to have Political Competition?

Elections are all about political competition. This competition takes various forms. At the constituency level, it takes the form of competition among several candidates. Here are a few reasons that support political competition as being good for people.

Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders.

Political parties know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections. On the contrary, if they fail to satisfy the voters with their work, they will not be able to win again

If a political party is motivated only by the desire to be in power, despite that, it will be forced to serve the people.

What is Our System of Election?

Elections are held in India in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) regularly after every 5 years. After 5 years, the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end.

Elections held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days called a General Election. Sometimes elections are held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by the death or resignation of a member. This is called a By-Election.

Electoral Constituency

India is divided into different areas for the purpose of elections. These areas are called electoral constituencies. The voters living in an area elect one representative.

For Lok Sabha elections, India is divided into 543 constituencies. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP.

Each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected representative is called the Member of the Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies.

The same principle applies to Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is divided into several ‘wards’ that are like constituencies. Each ward elects one member of the village or the urban local body. Sometimes these constituencies are counted as ‘seats’, for each constituency represents one seat in the assembly.

Reserved Constituencies

Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST]. In the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the SC and 47 for the ST.

In an SC reserved constituency, only someone who belongs to the Scheduled Caste can stand for election.

Only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST.

In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and women candidates as well.

Voters’ List

In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone, which is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’ List. It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters’ list.

The voters are required to carry Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC] when they go out to vote so that no one can vote for someone else. But the card is not yet compulsory for voting as voters can show many other proofs of identity, like the ration card or the driving license.

Nomination of Candidates

Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections. The candidate should be a minimum of 25 years of age. Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill out a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as a security deposit’. The candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of

Serious criminal cases pending against candidate

Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family

Educational qualifications of the candidate

This information is made available to the public so that voters can make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

Election Campaign

The election campaigns are conducted to have a free and open discussion about who is a better Representative and in turn, which party will make a better government. In India, 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 mobilize their supporters.

Some of the successful slogans given by different political parties in various elections:

Save Democracy

Land to the Tiller

Protect the Self-Respect of the Telugus

According to India’s election law, no party or candidate can:

Bribe or threaten voters

Appeal to them in the name of caste or religion

Use government resources for election campaign

Spend more than 25 lacks in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or 10 lacks in a constituency in an Assembly election

If any Political Party does so, their election can be rejected by the court. In addition to the laws, all the political parties in our country have agreed to a Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns. According to this, no party or candidate can:

Use any place of worship for election propaganda

Use government vehicles, aircraft, and officials for elections

Once elections are announced, Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities

Polling and Counting of Votes

The day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote is called the election day. The voting is done in the following manner.

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 her, put a mark on her finger, and allow her to cast her vote.

An agent of each candidate is allowed to sit inside the polling booth and ensure that the voting takes place in a fair way

A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party names and symbols are listed. The ballot paper was used earlier. Nowadays, electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes.

The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols.

The voter has to just press the button against the name of the candidate she wants to give her vote.

Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place.

A few days later, all the EVMs 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.

What Makes Election in India Democratic?

1) Independent Election Commission

In India, elections are conducted by the Election Commission (EC). The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India. Election Commission is independent and has a wide range of powers which are:

EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results.

It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it.

During the election period, the EC can order the government to follow some guidelines, to prevent the use and misuse of governmental power to enhance its chances to win elections, or to transfer some government officials.

When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.

2) Popular Participation

The quality of the election process can also be checked by seeing the participation of people. People’s participation in the election is measured by voter turnout figures. Turnout indicates the percent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote.

In India, the poor, illiterate, and underprivileged people vote in a larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.

Common people in India feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programs favorable to them.

The interest of voters in election-related activities has been increasing over the years.

3) Acceptance of Election Outcome

One final test of the freedom and fairness of the election is the outcome of the election.

The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level.

In the US, an incumbent or ‘sitting’ elected representative rarely loses an election. In India, about half of the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.

Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money on ‘buying votes’ and those with known criminal connections often lose elections.

Barring very few disputed elections, the electoral outcomes are usually accepted as the ‘people’s verdict’ by the defeated party.

Challenges to Free and Fair Elections

Elections in India are essentially free and fair. Sometimes this may not be true for every constituency. There are many limitations and challenges to Indian elections. These include:

Candidates and parties with a lot of money enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties.

Candidates with criminal connections have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major parties.

Tickets are distributed to relatives from their families.

Elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens as major parties are quite similar to each other, both in policies and practice.

Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.

Exercise

1. Which of the following statements about the reasons for conducting elections are false?

Elections enable people to judge the performance of the government.

People select the representative of their choice in an election.

Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary.

People can indicate which policies they prefer.

Answer.

c. Elections enable people to evaluate the performance of the judiciary.

2. Which of these is not a good reason to say that Indian elections are democratic?

India has the largest number of voters in the world.

India’s Election Commission is very powerful.

In India, everyone above the age of 18 has a right to vote.

In India, the losing parties accept the electoral verdict.

Answer.

a) India has the largest number of voters in the world.

3. Match the following:

Answer.

4. List all the different election-related activities mentioned in the chapter and arrange them in a time sequence, beginning with the first activity and ending with the last. Some of these activities are given below:

Answer.

5. Surekha is an officer in charge of ensuring free and fair elections in an assembly constituency in a state. Describe what she should focus on for each of the following stages of the election:

• Election campaign
• Polling day
• Counting day

Answer.

A) Election Campaign

• Check law and order

• Keep a check on muscle and money power

• Keep a check on the expenditure limit of a candidate

• To ensure no promotion on the grounds of religion, caste, or sex

B) Polling Day

• Check the voters’ list

• Check on voters’ id

• Prevent booth capturing

• Ensure free and fair elections

C) Counting Day

• Keep a fair counting practice

• Prevent the rigging of votes

6. The table below gives the proportion of different communities among the candidates who won elections to the US Congress. Compare these to the proportion of these communities in the population of the US. Based on this, would you suggest a system of reservations in the US Congress? If yes, why and for which communities? If not, why not?

Answer. Yes, the system of the reservation should be present in the US Congress for Hispanics and Blacks. Their representation in the US Congress is comparatively lower than Whites, who are the majority in the US.

7. Can we draw the following conclusions from the information given in this chapter? Give two facts to support your position for each of these.

1. Election Commission of India does not have enough powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
2. There is a high level of popular participation in the elections in our country.
3. It is very easy for the party in power to win an election.
4. Many reforms are needed to make our elections completely free and fair.

Answer.

A) No. The given conclusion for the Election Commission cannot be drawn because

• Election Commission released the code of conduct for elections and has the power to punish whoever violates them.
• During elections, the election in-charge works under the Election Commission of India and not the government.

B) Yes, the given conclusion can be drawn because

• Voter turnout has soared in the past few years
• There has been an increase in people’s participation in election-related activities

C) No, it is not the right conclusion because

• The ruling party in one election loses power in the next
• Despite a lot of expenditure in the election campaign, candidates lose

D) Yes, the conclusion is fair because

• Reforms will make it easier for small parties to face no major challenge in fighting an election
• To stop candidates’ facing criminal charges from running an election

8. Chinappa was convicted of torturing his wife for dowry. Satbir was held guilty of practicing untouchability. The court did not allow either of them to contest elections. Does this decision go against the principles of democratic elections?

Answer. No. The decision to not allow both Chinappa and Satbir to contest elections for the crime they committed is totally fair. According to the elections’ rule, no criminal can participate in elections. Hence, it is a fair verdict.

9. Here are some reports of electoral malpractices from different parts of the world. Is there anything that these countries can learn from India to improve their elections? What would you suggest in each case?

• During an election in Nigeria, the officer in charge of counting votes deliberately increased the votes of one candidate and declared him elected. The court later found out that more than five lakh votes cast for one candidate were counted in favor of another.
• Just before elections in Fiji, a pamphlet was distributed warning voters that a vote for former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry will lead to bloodshed. This was a threat to voters of Indian origin.
• In the US, each state has its own method of voting, its own procedure of counting, and its own authority for conducting elections. Authorities in the state of Florida took many controversial decisions that favored Mr. Bush in the presidential elections in 2000. But no one could change those decisions.

Answer.

• On the vote-counting day, the representatives of each party that has contested in the election should be present. Nigeria should follow this rule of the election that is practiced in India.
• In Fiji, the election commission should set up an inquiry committee, and the party or the candidate who was involved in this negative propaganda should be debarred from the election.
• The US should have one Election Commission, which can make rules for states for the election.

10. Here are some reports of malpractices in Indian elections. Identify what the problem in each case is. What should be done to correct the situation?

• Following the announcement of the elections, the minister promised to provide financial aid to reopen the closed sugar mill.
• Opposition parties alleged that their statements and campaign were not given due attention in Doordarshan and All India Radio.
• An inquiry by the Election Commission showed that the electoral rolls of a state contain names of 20 lakh fake voters.
• The hoodlums of a political party were moving with guns, physically preventing supporters of other political parties to meet the voters and attacking meetings of other parties.

Answer.

• As per the code of conduct that a candidate has to obey during the election, they should not announce any promises. Hence, in this case, the Election Commission should take this up with the minister.
• Election Commission should ensure free and fair representation to all parties in the government-owned media.
• Election Commission should announce re-elections, as the presence of fake votes shows the vote-rigging.
• Election Commission should ban the party, as the use of muscle power and money power is totally illegal.

11. Ramesh was not in class when this chapter was being taught. He came the next day and repeated what he had heard from his father. Can you tell Ramesh what is wrong with these statements?

• Women always vote the way men tell them to. So what is the point of giving them the right to vote?
• Party politics creates tension in society. Elections should be decided by consensus, not by competition.
• Only graduates should be allowed to stand as candidates for elections.

Answer.

• In elections, the secret-ballot system is used where an individual can vote for the party he/she likes. Hence, women can also use their discretion and cast a vote as per their wish.
• Competition is important for any profession, as it motivates one to improve. Competition in elections ensures that candidates work hard for society. Hence, it should be encouraged.
• Educational qualification is not the only factor for a candidate to understand the social needs of the people. Hence, it should be fair if someone who is not a graduate decides to run for an election.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an ‘Electoral system’?

An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined.

What are the functions of a legislature?

The most important function of the legislature is law-making. The state legislature has the power to make laws on all items on which Parliament cannot legislate.

What are reserved constituencies?

Reserved constituencies are constituencies in which seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes based on the size of their population.