Model Question and Answers for APSC | To enhance the quality of democracy in India, the Election Commission of India proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms,s and how far are they significant to make democracy successful?

Ans: According to ADR, 43% of newly-elected Lok Sabha MPs have a criminal record. The main goal of electoral reform is to establish a system that will allowfor the holding of free and fair elections.

The Election Commission proposed significant reforms in light of the need to strengthen democracy:

• Constitutional protection for all members of the Election Commission of India: According to ECI, other election commissioners should have the same level of protection as the Chief Election Commissioner under Article 324's clause (5).
• Independent Secretariat: The Commission proposes that it should have an independent secretariat along the lines of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Registries of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
• Budget of the commission to be "charged": At the moment, the Commission's administrative costs are a voted The Commission sent a proposal suggesting that, like other constitutional bodies, the Commission's expenses be charged as non-votable expenditures to the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Voting by proxy: The Representation of the People Act, 1951's Section 60 should be amended to allow overseas voters to cast their ballots either by proxy or by postal ballot.
• False statement: Any false declaration or statement made in front of the Election Commission should be considered an electoral offense, according to the Commission.
• Division of seats: The seats in the Council of States and State Legislative Councils should be divided into three categories, with the terms for each category being set so that a third of the members would retire every two years. These changes have been proposed by the Commission.

• Vote totalizer use: An EVM totalizer can count votes from several Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at once. In this manner, the results of votes cast in a group of EVMs can be determined without knowing the outcome in each EVM that corresponds to a polling place.
• Cognisable Offence: People who have been charged with crimes that are punishable by imprisonment for at least five years and whose cases have been filed at least six months before the election in question are prohibited from running for office at the time the charges are brought by the appropriate court.

Significance of proposed reform:

These reforms will help make the elections more democratic in nature and thus achieve free and fair elections.