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Election Finance
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- The Commission has proposed that election expenses be calculated starting from the date of notification, rather than from the date of nomination. It also recommended that companies seeking to make political contributions must first secure approval during their Annual General Meeting, instead of solely relying on a decision by their Board of Directors.
- Additionally, political parties should be mandated to keep and file annual financial statements, which must be properly audited by a certified chartered accountant selected from a panel curated by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and submitted to the ECI every financial year.
- Furthermore, the period of disqualification for candidates who fail to file their election expenditure and contribution reports should be increased from the current three years to five years.
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Regulation of Political Parties and Inner Party Democracy
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- The Commission recommends amendment to RPA requiring that the accompanying memorandum/rules/ regulations with the party’s application, this document should also contain a specific provision stating that the party would shun violence for political gains, and would avoid discrimination or distinction based on race, caste, creed, language or place of residence.
- A new Chapter IVC should be inserted dealing with the “Regulation of Political Parties” and will deal with internal democracy, party Constitutions, party organisation, internal elections, candidate selection, voting procedures, and the ECl’s power to de-register a party in certain cases of non-compliance.
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Proportional Representation as an Electoral System
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- The Commission stated that proportional representation was more representative while the First-Past-The-Post system (henceforth, FPTP) was more stable.
- Experience of other nations showed that to change the electoral system, India would have to combine direct and indirect elections that would mean increasing number of Lok Sabha seats, which “raises concerns regarding its effective functioning.”
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Strengthening the Office of the Election Commission of India
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- The ECI should be strengthened by first, giving equal constitutional protection to all members of the Commission in matters of removability; second, making the appointment process of the Election Commissioners and the CEC consultative; and third, creating a permanent, independent Secretariat for the ECI.
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Paid News and Political Advertisements
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- The definitions of “paying for news”, “receiving payment for news” and “political advertisement” should be inserted in section 2 of the RPA.
- The consequences attached to those indulging in such practices should be delineated by creating – an electoral offence of “paying for news” / “receiving payment for news” in a newly inserted section 127B of the RPA and a corrupt practice of paying for news under newly inserted sub-clause (iii) in section 123(2) (a) of the RPA.
- In order to curb the practice of disguised political advertisement, disclosure provisions should be made mandatory for all forms of media.
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Opinion Polls
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- The ban on opinion polls in the electronic media does not extend to the print media and section 126(1)(b) should be amended.
- This section should also provide for cognizance being taken only on the basis of a complaint made by order of, or under authority from, the ECI or the Chief Electoral Officer of the State.
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Compulsory Voting
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- The Commission does not recommend the introduction of compulsory voting in India and in fact, believes it to be highly undesirable as being undemocratic, illegitimate, expensive, unable to improve quality political participation and awareness, and difficult to implement.
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Election Petitions
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- The introduction of one or more “election benches” in each High Court, designated so by the Chief Justice of the particular High Court, exercising jurisdiction over all election disputes under the RPA.
- The procedure for presenting election petitions should be made simpler and less formalistic.
- The trial of election petitions by the election bench of the High Court should be expedited. The trial should be concluded within six months from the date of presentation of the petition.
- Appeals to the Supreme Court should now only be on the basis of a question of law, instead of the earlier provision permitting questions of factor law as grounds for appeal.
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NOTA
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- The report rejected invalidating elections on the majority of None of the Above (henceforth, NOTA) votes, the motivating factor behind the right to reject, can be successfully achieved by bringing about changes in political horizontal accountability, inner party democracy, and decriminalisation.
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Right to Recall
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- The Commission also rejected right to recall and felt it could lead to an “excess of democracy” and affect independence of elected candidates and interest of minorities.
- It also felt the right “increases instability and chaos, increases chances of misuse and abuse, is difficult and expensive to implement in practice,” especially in a FPTP system.
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Counting
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- The Commission, however, favoured vote totaliser in counting to “prevent the harassment of voters in areas where voting trends in each polling station can be determined” and “counter fears of intimidation and victimisation.”
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Restriction on Government Sponsored Advertisements
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- The Commission recommends regulating and restricting government sponsored advertisements six months prior to the date of expiry of the House/Assembly to maintain the purity of elections; prevent the use of public money for partisan interests of, inter alia, highlighting the government’s achievements; and ensure that the ruling party or candidate does not get an undue advantage over another in the spirit of free and fair elections.
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Independent Candidates
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- The Law Commission recommends that independent candidates bed is barred from contesting elections because the current regime allows a proliferation of independents, who are mostly dummy/non-serious candidates or those who stand (with the same name) only to increase the voters’ confusion.
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Preparation and use of Common Electoral Rolls
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- The Law Commission endorses the ECl’s suggestions regarding the introduction of common electoral rolls for Parliamentary, Assembly and local body elections.
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