answer the following question in brief
suggest some electoral reforms
please give brief answer please
Answers
Explanation:
I.Amendment to the Constitution of India
1. Constitutional protection for all members of the Commission.
2. Budget of the Commission to be ‘charged’ on the CFI.
3. Independent Secretariat for the Commission.
II.Electoral Roll Matters
While Army personnel are allowed to vote, Navy and Airforce are not.
There are no provisions for overseas electors to vote despite being eligible to do so. Amendments proposed provide the option of proxy voting or postal ballot voting.
At present, the Electoral Rolls prepared by the Election Commission are not used by the State Election Commissions leading to duplication of effort and errors costing both in terms of time and money. Common Electoral Rolls to be used in local elections was a recommendation endorsed by the Law Commission.
III.Election Management Issues
At present, filing false declarations about the background of the candidate attracts penalty under Section 125A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951. The offence is punishable by up to 6 months, or with fine, or with both.
The Commission has proposed that the punishment under section 125A should be increased to 2 years’ imprisonment without the alternative clause of fine, and also that the offence should be included in the list of offences listed in sub-section (1) of section 8 which would attract disqualification on conviction irrespective of the term if sentence. The Commission also proposed that furnishing of false affidavit or suspension of material information in the affidavit should also be specified as ground for challenging the election under section 100 (1) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951.
In S. Subramaniam Balaji vs Govt. Of T.Nadu & Ors, the SC observed that “although, the law is obvious that the promises in the election manifesto cannot be construed as ‘corrupt practice’ under section 123 of The Representation of the People Act, the reality cannot be ruled out that distribution of freebies of any kind, undoubtedly, influences all people. It shakes the root of free and fair elections to a large degree. In this regard the EC has proposed an amendment to RPA, 1951 allowing Adjournment of poll or countermanding of elections on ground of bribery.