Electoral Reforms and the Election Commission of India (ECI)

GS-II | Polity | Election Commission | Electoral Reforms | Constitutional Bodies

Why in News?

• The evolution of India’s electoral system can be seen in a series of reforms designed to enhance the inclusiveness, enforceability and accessibility of elections.
• The current large-scale revision of the electoral rolls, the suspicious removal of voters from those rolls, and the concerns raised regarding the availability of access to the poll records are testing whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) can provide all eligible voters with equal opportunities to cast their ballots.
• Its history offers lessons for the challenges ahead.

Key Issues and Developments

1. Historical Lessons in Electoral Inclusion

• Women’s inclusion in the electoral process: When India compiled its first voter list (electoral roll), about 28 lakh women were excluded because they had been registered on the basis of who they were related to, rather than as individuals.
• Sukumar Sen’s Impact: Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner in India. He worked to make sure that women were registered on the voter lists in their own right. By the time of the 1957 elections, nearly 85 percent of all of the affected women were registered on the voter lists with their own names.

2. Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls

• Bihar: In Bihar, approximately 65 lakh people’s names were absent from the preliminary voters list that was released by the Commission in August 2025. According to the Commission, this was due to people having died, migrated away, or been listed twice.
• Transparency and accountability:  Voters should be allowed to view why their names have not appeared on the updated list of eligible voters so they can correct mistakes.
• Supreme Court Intervention: The Supreme Court has ordered the ECI to post the names of the individuals that were removed from the voter lists, and why they were removed.
• West Bengal: During the adjudication process in West Bengal, more than 27 million people’s names were removed from the voter rolls, resulting in approximately 22 million appeals.
• Technical Challenges: Tribunal judges have reported technical challenges relating to the appeals portal. Examples include difficulty in issuing notices, conducting hearings, and restoring names.
• Timely Remedies: Both examples demonstrate the importance of removing incorrect name entries from the voting lists to ensure the list is correct. Equally important is to correct the exclusion of eligible voters. If a remedy is delayed too long, the voter will have lost their opportunity to cast a ballot.

3. The Form 7 Question

• Deletion Applications in Aland, Karnataka: In Aland, Karnataka there were 6,018 online deletion requests.
• Verification: Of the remaining 14,018 applications, the ECI stated that it had rejected 5,994 because of being incorrect; however, it accepted 24 after checking.
• Investigation: An inquiry followed, and an FIR was registered.
• Safeguards: Rejecting incorrect applications show that safeguards can work.
• Accountability: A consistent pattern of application submissions will allow the ECI to determine who made each submission, and if their identification or other documentation was used fraudulently.
• Verifiable Records: Every time you make a deletion request, there must be a verifiable record of who made the request, what was submitted as supporting evidence for the request, and the ultimate outcome of the request.

4. Transparency in Polling Data

• Maharashtra Assembly Election, 2024: The reported voter turnout in Maharashtra’s 2024 assembly elections increased from 58.22 percent as of 5:00 p.m. to 66.05 percent when the official figures were released.
• ECI’s explanation: The commission has stated that the previous total was a provisional figure and that there would continue to be updates to the total as polling parties returned, and their documentation is reviewed.
• The need for clarity: A large change in the numbers from provisional to final does not alone prove that there was an issue with how votes were cast; however, it does make it clear that an explanation is needed.

5. Access to Election Records

• Amendment to Rule 93: Following a Punjab & Haryana High Court order to make public election related records in connection with a case regarding the Haryana Assembly Election, the government amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules on December 2024.
• Public access: Changes in the law caused some concern regarding public access to electronic records such as CCTV recordings and webcasts.
• Concerns: The changes being made were done at a time that has caused some to wonder if this was meant to safeguard privacy or to prevent closer inspection.

6. Institutional Independence of the ECI

• Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023): The Supreme Court provided a temporary selection committee for election commissioners that consisted of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
• Parliamentary Amendment: Later on, the Parliament substituted a Union Cabinet Minister for the Chief Justice.
• Concerns over Independence: The government now controls two of the three keys to the room where election commissioners are chosen. This hardly inspires public confidence in the ECI’s independence.

Way Forward

• Accurate Electoral Rolls: The right of every voter to accurate electoral rolls, traceable deletion requests, timely appeals, and independently examinable polling records should be guaranteed.
• Transparency and accountability: A verifiable record of the applicant, supporting evidence, and final decision should be left after every deletion request.
• Timely Appeals: The timeliness of an appeal to correct a wrongful exclusion from voting is just as significant. An appeal that arrives too late results in a loss of the right to vote.
• Verifiable Evidence: The Election Commission of India does not have to accept all claims made by political parties, but its constitutional authority cannot take the place of verifiable evidence.

Conclusion

An electoral democracy requires trust to be earned by providing evidence of your actions, making sure you are clear with your communication and being willing to make right any errors that have occurred.

UPSC GS Foundation Course
Master Indian Polity and Governance for UPSC! Understand electoral reforms, the Election Commission of India, and democratic institutions with our GS Foundation Course. Build conceptual clarity for Prelims and Mains.

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q. Examine the challenges faced by the Election Commission of India in ensuring electoral integrity, transparency and institutional independence. Suggest measures to strengthen public confidence in the electoral process.