Question

Highlight the important issues concerning elections in India. What role Election observers play in the conduct of free and fair elections in India

Answer 1

Approach:

• A straightforward question, Write about various issues concerning elections in India.
• In the second part, write about the election observers, statutory basis of their appointment and their role in the conduct of free and fair elections in India.
• Concluded with need/importance of election observers.

Issues:

• Money power: The increasing role of money power in the form of voter bribery and funding of political parties
• Paid news: The manipulation of the media through paid news and other means.
• Criminalization of politics: Over the last two decades, the influence of criminals in the political arena has shown a tremendous Increase Political parties continue to put up criminals as candidates.
• Misuse of caste and religion for electoral gains: The use of religion, caste, community, tribe, and any other form of group identity for electoral gain or for gathering political support should not be allowed.
• Issue of electoral Bonds: Analysts said the move could be misused, given the lack of disclosure requirements for individuals purchasing Electoral bonds.
• Black money: Electoral bonds make electoral funding even more opaque. It will bring more and more black money into the political system. With electoral bonds there can be a legal channel for companies to round-trip their tax haven cash to a political party. If this could be arranged, then a businessman could lobby for a change in policy, and legally funnel a part of the profits accruing from this policy change to the politician or party that brought it about. These bonds share two characteristics with tax havens secrecy and anonymity. Electoral bonds eliminate the 7.5% cap on company donations which means even loss-making companies can make unlimited donations.
• Hate speech by politicians
• EVM tampering issue and the case for VVPATs
• Financial transparency in political parties: This is also one of the fundamental deeper political reforms that is a necessary precondition that must be satisfied before any meaningful electoral reforms can actually take place on the ground
• Ensuring the independence of the ECI:- Independence of the ECI, the manner of appointment of the CEC and ECs was debated. One member proposed ratification of CEC’s appointment by the Legislature, but the Constituent Assembly disagreed and it simply provided for the CEC to be appointed by the President, leaving it to the Legislature to enact a suitable law.

Election Observers:
Different democracies have different types of Election Observation. The Election Observation includes the observation by domestic Observers as well as Observers by external agencies such as United Nations, Commonwealth, and other external election watch groups and so on.
However, in the Indian context, the election Observation has always been a domestic initiative. The concept of election observation by the domestic Observers itself has been evolved over a period of time, as the complaints during the election process were far and few in the initial years.
The Commission started deputing some senior officials from the same State to observe election process in a constituency or a group of constituencies. But the concept of deputing senior officers as the Election Commission’s Observers took a firm root only from the beginning of the year 1990s. Over a period of nearly two decades, the deputation of Election Observers from one State to another State has become an integral part of the election management in the country.
Currently, mostly the officers who belong to All India Services and Central Services like IRS, CBDT and CBEC, IDES are being deputed as the election observers.

STATUTORY BASIS OF APPOINTMENT
Observers of the Election Commission of India are appointed under the powers conferred on it by Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the plenary powers available to the Commission under the Constitution of India.
They are the appointees of the Commission working under the superintendence, control and discipline of the Commission for the period from their appointment until the process of election is completed.
The Representation of the People Act, 1951 was amended in August, 1996 to add a new Section 20B. This provides statutory powers to the Observers to watch the conduct of elections and especially in respect of counting of votes.

ROLE OF OBSERVERS

1. Assist the Commission in the conduct of free and fair polls.
2. They will also be able to oversee the efficient and effective management of the electoral process at the field level.
3. For all purposes, they will act as the eyes and ears of the Commission during the period of the election (and not the mouthpiece) and provide direct inputs to the Commission from the field to ensure that the Acts, rules, procedures, instructions and guidelines related to elections are strictly and impartially complied with by all concerned.
4. Their inputs/observations are confidential and solely for the use of the Commission and not for any other agency including media. They must not, therefore, interact with or respond to the queries of the Press even after the elections are over.
5. The deputation of the Observer is not to find fault but to facilitate field administration in ensuring a free and fair poll.
6. Observing the processes of scrutiny of nominations and withdrawal of candidature by the Returning Officer(RO), and Report back to the Commission promptly in case of any irregularity.
7. Also to examine the unresolved grievances by the candidate/ political parties about the allotment of symbols.
8. Effective monitoring of implementation of MCC and detecting cases of violation of the model code of conduct.
9. Though checking the account of expenditure of the candidates is entrusted to Expenditure Observers, however, General Observer are also required to do so, in case of exigencies, if directed by the Commission.
10. Tracking dispatch of postal ballot papers to the service voters.
11. Observing and regulating the counting process. Observer has to sign the round wise counting sheets as proof of his/her satisfaction. They are empowered to direct Returning Officer to stop counting or not to declare for the reasons specified in Section 20B.
12. Observers are expected to observe and report on all the steps involved in election management.
13. Review the preventive measures taken by the law and order implementation machinery, review the Communication Plan, Review Control Room arrangement and complaint monitoring system.
14. Post Scrutiny of documents relating to polls is an important analytical tool to analyze proper conduct of elections and taking repoll decision.

Significance of election observation:

• Observation can help promote and protect the civil and political rights of participants in elections.
• It can lead to the correction of errors or weak practices, even while an election process is still underway.
• It can deter manipulation and fraud, or expose such problems if they do occur.
• Election observation is a valuable tool for improving the quality of elections, strengthening democratic institutions, build public confidence in electoral processes and help deter fraud, intimidation and violence.Observers help build public confidence in the honesty of electoral processes.