Election Schedule

By:Poonam Bisht The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India. Elections are conducted according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by laws made by Parliament. 1) The Commission normally announces the schedule of elections in a major Press Conference a few weeks before the formal process is set in motion.

2) The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of candidates and Political Parties immediately comes into effect after such announcement.

3) The formal process for the elections starts with the Notification or Notifications calling upon the electorate to elect Members of a House.

4) As soon as Notifications are issued, Candidates can start filing their nominations in the constituencies from where they wish to contest.

5) These are scrutinized by the Returning Officer of the constituency concerned after the last date for the same is over after about a week. The validly nominated candidates can withdraw from the contest within two days from the date of scrutiny.
6) Contesting candidates get at least two weeks for political campaign before the actual date of poll.

7) A separate date for counting is fixed and the results declared for each constituency by the concerned Returning Officer.

8) The Commission compiles the complete list of Members elected and issues an appropriate Notification for the due Constitution of the House.

9) With this, the process of elections is complete and the President, in case of the Lok Sabha, and the Governors of the concerned States, in case of Vidhan Sabhas, can then convene their respective Houses to hold their sessions. The entire process takes between 5 to 8 weeks for the national elections, 4 to 5 weeks for separate elections only for Legislative Assemblies.

Delimitation Commission

Under Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament by law enacts a Delimitation Act after every census. This Delimitation Commission demarcates the boundaries of the Parliamentary Constituencies as per provisions of the Delimitation Act. The present delimitation of constituencies is based on 1971 census figures. Factors affecting the Delimitation

1) Population of the State

Population is the basis of allocation of seats of the Lok Sabha. As far as possible, every State gets representation in the Lok Sabha in proportion to its population as per census figures.

2) Reservation of seats:
Basis for allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha:

Proportion of SCs, STs in the State as per provision contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.

For Scheduled Castes, 79 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha.

For Scheduled Tribes, 41 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha.

Number of states in India:

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal.

Number of UTs in India:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.

Registration of political parties:

It is not necessary for every association to get registered by the Election Commission. Only an association or body of individual citizens of India calling itself a political party and intending to avail itself of the provisions of Part-IV-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, (relating to registration of political parties) is required to get itself registered with the Election Commission of India.

Further, registered political parties, in course of time, can get recognition as `State Party` or National Party` subject to the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, as amended from time to time.

Procedure for registration

An application for registration is to be submitted to the Secretary, Election Commission of India, Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110001 in the Performa prescribed by the Commission. The Performa is available on request by post or across the counter from the office of the Commission.

The application should be neatly typed on the party`s letter head, if any, and it should be sent by registered post or presented personally to the Secretary to the Election Commission within thirty days following the date of formation of the party.

2. The application must be accompanied by the following documents/information:-

(i) A demand draft for Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand Only) on account of processing fee drawn in favour of Under Secretary, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. The processing fee is non-refundable.

(ii) A neatly typed/printed copy of the memorandum/rules and regulations/Constitution of the Party containing a specific provision as required under sub-section (5) of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in the exact terms, which reads "---------------(name of the party) shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India". The above mandatory provision must be included in the text of party constitution/rules and regulations/memorandum itself as one of the Articles/clauses.

(iii) The copy of the party Constitution should be duly authenticated on each page by the General Secretary/President/Chairman of the Party and the seal of the signatory should be affixed thereon.

(iv) There should be a specific provision in the Constitution/rules and regulations/memorandum of the party regarding organizational elections at different levels and the periodicity of such elections and terms of office of the office-bearers of the party.

(v) The procedure to be adopted in the case of merger/dissolution should be specifically provided in the Constitution/rules and regulations/memorandum.

(vi) Certified extracts from the latest electoral rolls in respect of at least 100 members of the party (including all office bearers/members of main decision-making organs like Executive Committee/Executive Council) to show that they are registered electors.

(vii) An affidavit duty signed by the President/General Secretary of the party and sworn before a First Class Magistrate/Oath Commissioner)/ Notary Public to the effect that no member of the party is a member of any other political party registered with the Commission.

(viii) Individual affidavits from at least 100 members of the party to the effect that the said member is a registered elector and that he is not a member of any other political party registered with the Commission duly sworn before a First Class Magistrate/Oath Commissioner)/Notary Public. These affidavits shall be in addition to the furnishing of certified extracts of electoral rolls in respect of the 100 members of the applicant party mentioned at (vi) above. (ix) Particulars of Bank accounts in the name of the party.

3. The application along with all the required documents mentioned above must be reach the Secretary to the Commission within 30 days following the date of formation of the party. 4. Any application made after the said period will be time barred. Criteria for recognition of a party

A political party shall be treated as a recognised political party in a State, if and only if either the conditions specified in Clause (A) are, or the condition specified in Clause (B) is, fulfilled by that party and not otherwise, that is to say- (A) that such party -

has been engaged in political activity for a continuous period of five years

has, at the last general election in that State to the House of the People, or, as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the State, returned- either (i) at least one member to the House of the People for every twenty-five members of that House or any fraction of that number from that State;

or (ii) at least one member to the Legislative Assembly of that State for every thirty members of that Assembly or any fraction of that number; (B) The total number of valid votes polled by all the contesting candidates set up by such party at the last general election in the State to the House of the People, or as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the State, is not less than six per cent of the total number of valid votes polled by all the contesting candidates at such general election in the State. 2. The conditions in Clause (A) or Clause (B) above shall not be deemed to have been fulfilled by a political party, if a member of the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State becomes a member of that political party after his election to that House or, as the case may be, that Assembly. 3. `State` includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. 4. If a political party is treated as a recognised political party in four or more States, it shall be known as a `National Party` throughout the whole of India, but only so long as that political party continues to fulfill thereafter the conditions for recognition in four or more States on the results of any subsequent general election either to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of any State. Recognition as National Party 4. If a political party is treated as a recognised political party in four or more States, it shall be known as a `National Party` throughout the whole of India, but only so long as that political party continues to fulfill thereafter the conditions for recognition in four or more States on the results of any subsequent general election either to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of any State.
Recognition as State Party

5. If a political party is treated as a recognised political party in less than four States, it should be known as a `State Party` in the State or States in which it is so recognised, but only so long as that political party continues to fulfill thereafter the conditions for recognition on the results of any subsequent general election to the House of the People or, as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the State, in the said State or States. Allotment of symbols:
Selection of the symbols:

The Commission has a list of symbols culled over the years. At any given point of time, the apex election office in New Delhi maintains at least 100 free symbols that have not been allotted to any party. The symbols chosen are such that they can be easily understood, remembered and recognised by the average voter.

In most cases, parties offer their own symbols, which the Commission may or may not accept. If it is a unique symbol that no other party has laid claim to, then the Commission will allocate that symbol to the party. But if that or a similar symbol is already in use by another party, the Commission may deny permission and suggest alternatives.

Importance of symbols:

The symbols are so important that today certain parties are identified by their symbols. So if you see a lotus, you instantly think Bharatiya Janata Party; if a politician holds up his palm, it means he is a Congressman. If there is a hammer and sickle on a poster, it means the candidate is a member of the Communist Party of India, Marxist.

Commission`s rules governing electoral symbols

The Commission has stipulated that the symbols of all nationally recognised parties should be standard throughout India. Thus, the BJP`s `lotus` symbol will not be allotted to any other party or individual, even if the BJP does not have a candidate in a particular constituency or state. (A party is considered a national party only if it is represented in at least four states and/or Union territories.) Then there are the state parties, which are allotted certain symbols that no other party can use in that particular state, but which different parties in different states can use. Thus, the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Bihar both use `bow and arrow` as their symbol.

Splits and claims:

The Commission accepts representations from rival factions and takes a decision according to the merits of the case. For instance, in 1999, when the Janata Dal split, the rival factions demanded the `wheel` symbol. But the Commission froze the symbol. Instead, it allotted `farmer driving a tractor` to one faction and `arrow` to the other. The Commission has also stipulated that if a particular party or individual is contesting an election for the second time from the same constituency, that party or individual has first claim to the symbol they used the last time around. The popular electoral symbols of major political parties

Bharatiya Janata Party: Lotus

Bahujan Samaj Party: Elephant

Indian National Congress: Palm of the hand

Communist Party of India, Marxist: Hammer and sickle with five-pointed star

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Rising sun

All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Two leaves

Nationalist Congress Party: Clock

Rashtriya Janata Dal: Lantern

Samajwadi Party: Bicycle

Samata Party: Flaming torch

Shiv Sena: Bow and arrow

Telugu Desam Party: Plough

Trinamul Congress: Two flowers

Nationalist Trinamool Congress: Budding Rose

Eligibility for A Lok Sabha Candidate:

Article 84 (a) and (b) of the Constitution of India envisages that:

He is a citizen of India

Twenty five years

A person must be registered as a voter. Sec 4 (d) of Representation People Act, 1951 precludes a person from contesting unless he is an elector in any parliamentary constituency. Section 5 (c) of R. P. Act, 1951 has a similar provision for Assembly Constituencies.

Disqualification:

As per Section 8 (3) of R. P. Act, 1951,

If a person is convicted of any offence and sentenced to an imprisonment of 2 years or more, this will be disqualification to contest elections.

Even if is a person is on bail, after the conviction and his appeal is pending for disposal, he is disqualified from contesting an election as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.

Security deposit for Lok Sabha:

As per Section 34 1 (a) of R. P. Act, 1951, every candidate is required to make a security deposit of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand Only) for Lok Sabha elections.

The same section 34 of R. P. Act, 1951 provides that a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is required to make a security deposit of Rs. 5,000 (Rupees Five Thousand Only).

Security deposit for an Assembly election

As per Sec. 34 (1) (b) of the R. P. Act 1951, a general candidate for contesting an Assembly election will have to make a security deposit of Rs. 5,000/-

A candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste / Tribe will have to make a security deposit of Rs 2,500/- (Two Thousand and Five Hundred Only).

Proposers for nominations:

As per Sec. 33 of R. P. Act, 1951

Only one proposer is required for nomination for candidate of a recognised National or State party

Ten proposers for an independent candidate or a candidate of unrecognised political party