NCERT Notes Class 9 Civics| Chapter 3: Electoral Politics

“Electoral Politics” is a pivotal chapter in the Class 9 Civics curriculum, exploring the essence of democracy through the lens of electoral processes. This chapter delves into the fundamental principles and practices that underpin democratic governance, emphasizing the significance of elections as a cornerstone of democratic societies.

Let us learn more in detail!

Elections: Definition

• Election is a mechanism adopted by various countries to choose their representatives.
• More than a hundred countries in the world conduct elections. The process of selection of representatives at regular intervals is known as elections.
• It provides a way for people to assert their voice, and opinion and choose the person whose priorities and ideas match with them the most.

Why do we need elections?

Elections are necessary because:

• 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 make major decisions.
• They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law-making.

What makes an election democratic?

Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic countries hold elections. The characteristics that make an election democratic are :

• First, everyone should be able to choose. This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.
• Second, there should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.
• Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
• Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
• Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they wish.

Is it good to have a political competition?

Our Constitution makers opted for free competition in elections because of the following reasons:

• Free competition is a way to select our future leaders. They did so because this system works better in the long run.
• In an ideal world, all political leaders know what is good for the people and are motivated only by a desire to serve them.
• Political leaders all over the world, like all other professionals, are motivated by a desire to advance their political careers.
• They want to remain in power or get power and positions for themselves.
• They may wish to serve the people as well, but it is risky to depend entirely on their sense of duty.

But, there are certain demerits for political competition as well:

It creates a sense of disunity and ‘factionalism’ in every locality.

• Different political parties and leaders often level allegations against one another. Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections.
• Some people say that this pressure to win electoral fights does not allow sensible long-term policies to be formulated.
• Some good people who may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena. They do not like the idea of being dragged into unhealthy competition.

Demerits of political competition : Solutions

We can deal with the demerits of political competition in the following ways:

• One way is to try and improve the knowledge and character of political leaders.
• The other and more realistic way is to set up a system where political leaders are rewarded for serving the people and punished for not doing so.
• Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders. They know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections.
• But if they fail to satisfy the voters with their work they will not be able to win again.
• Political competition may cause divisions and some ugliness, but it finally helps to force political parties and leaders to serve the people.

System of elections

• Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly after every five years.
• After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands ‘dissolved’.
• Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election.
• Sometimes an election is 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 Constituencies

In our country, we follow an area-based system of representation.

• The country is divided into different areas for purposes of elections.
• These areas are called electoral constituencies. The voters who live in an area elect one representative.

Types of Elections	Lok Sabha Elections	State Elections	Panchayat and Municipal Elections
Characteristics	For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP. One of the features of a democratic election is that every vote should have equal value. That is why our Constitution requires that each constituency should have a roughly equal population living within it.	Each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected representative is called the Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies.	The same principle applies for 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

The makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST].

• The number of seats reserved is in proportion to their share of the total population. Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group.
• This system of reservation was extended later to other weaker sections at the district and local levels. In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well.
• However, the proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state.
• Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.

Voter’s List

• Once the constituencies are decided, the next step is to decide who can and who cannot vote. This decision cannot be left to anyone till the last day.
• In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’ List.
• In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years and above can vote in an election. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion or gender . Some criminals and persons with unsound mind can be denied the right to vote, but only in rare situations.
• It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters’ list.
• As new persons attain voting age names are added to the voters’ list. Names of those who move out of a place or those who are dead are deleted.
• A complete revision of the list takes place every five years. This is done to ensure that it remains up to date.
• In the last few years a new system of Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC] has been introduced. The government has tried to give this card to every person on the voters list.
• The voters are required to carry this card when they go out to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else. But the card is not yet compulsory for voting.
• For voting, the voters can show many other proofs of identity like the ration card or the driving license.

Nomination of Candidates

• In order to be a candidate the minimum age is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter. There are some other restrictions on criminals etc. but these apply in very extreme cases.
• Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and support. Party’s nomination is often called party ‘ticket’.
• Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.
• Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of :

1. Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate;
2. Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family; and
3. Educational qualifications of the candidate.

• This information has to be made public. This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

Election Campaign

• It is necessary to have a free and open discussion about who is a better representative, which party will make a better government or what is a good policy. This is what happens during election campaigns.
• In our country such 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.
• This is also the period when newspapers and television news are full of election related stories and debates. But election campaign is not limited to these two weeks only.
• Political parties start preparing for elections months before they actually take place. In election campaigns, political parties try to focus public attention on some big issues.
• They want to attract the public to that issue and get them to vote for their party on that basis.
• Some famous slogans are as follows:

Parties	Slogans
The Congress party	Garibi Hatao (Remove poverty) in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971.
Janata Party	Save Democracy under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan, in the Lok Sabha election held in 1977
The Left Front	Land to the Tiller in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 1977.
Telugu Desam Party	Protect the Self-Respect of the Telugus was the slogan used by N. T. Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983.

• According to our election law, no party or candidate can:

1. Bribe or threaten voters;
2. Appeal to them in the name of caste or religion;
3. Use government resources for election campaign; and
4. Spend more than ` 25 lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or `10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election.
5. If they do so, their election can be rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected.

• 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:

1. Use any place of worship for election propaganda;
2. Use government vehicles, aircraft and officials for elections; and
3. 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 final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote. That day is usually called the election day.
• Every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’, situated usually in a local school or a government office.
• 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.
• Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed.
• Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by election commission.
• All that the voter has to do is to 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, on a fixed date, all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted.
• The agents of all candidates are present there to ensure that the counting is done properly. The candidate who secures the highest number of votes from a constituency is declared elected.
• In a general election, usually the counting of votes in all the constituencies takes place at the same time, on the same day. Television channels, radio and newspapers report this event.
• Within a few hours of counting,allthe resultsare declared and it becomes clear as to who will form the next government.

What makes election in India democratic?

Independent Election Commission

• In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC). It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India.
• But once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Even if the ruling party or the government does not like what the Commission does, it is virtually impossible for it to remove the CEC.
• 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 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.

Popular Participation

• Another way to check the quality of the election process is to see whether people participate in it with enthusiasm.
• In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in larger proportion as compared to the rich and privileged sections.
• Common people in India attach a lot of importance to elections. They feel that through elections they can bring pressure on political parties to adopt policies and programmes favourable to them.
• They also feel that their vote matters in the way things are run in the country. The interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing over the years.

Acceptance of Election Outcome

One final test of the free and fairness of election has in the outcome itself. If elections are not free or fair, the outcome always favors the powerful .The outcome of India’s elections speaks for itself:

• The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at the national and state level.
• In fact in every two out of the three elections held in the last 25 years, the ruling party lost 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 ‘people’s verdict’ by the defeated party.

Challenges to Free and Fair Election: Conclusion

There are many challenges and limitations of Indian elections that needs our attention. They are as follows:

• Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
• In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major parties. Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
• Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the 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.

People Also View

• Election System in India
• Political Parties : Functions, Importance and Party System
• Find winner of an election where votes are represented as candidate names

Electoral Politics- FAQs

What is election?

Election is a mechanism adopted by various countries to choose their representatives.

More than a hundred countries in the world conduct elections. The process of selection of representatives at regular intervals is known as elections.

It provides a way for people to assert their voice, and opinion and choose the person whose priorities and ideas match with them the most.

How is a Ballot Paper different from EVMs?

Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed.

Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by election commission.

All that the voter has to do is to 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.

Mention the Model Code Of Conduct for election campaigns.

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; and

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.

‘The Election Commission enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys’. Elucidate the statement.

In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC). It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India.

But once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Even if the ruling party or the government does not like what the Commission does, it is virtually impossible for it to remove the CEC.

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 .

What are the challenges to free and fair election?

There are many challenges and limitations of Indian elections that needs our attention. They are as follows:

Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.

In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major parties. Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.

Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the 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.