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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on April 02, 2025
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Why are electoral reforms necessary?
For Preliminary Examination: Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), VVPAT, Election Commission of India
For Mains Examination: GS II - Indian Polity & Governance
Context:
The Election Commission (EC) has invited political parties to discuss strengthening the election process. This is in wake of the allegations of manipulation of electoral rolls during the recently concluded assembly elections and issues raised with respect to duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers in different States.
Read about:
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)
Key takeaways:
The Election Commission (EC) has called upon political parties to deliberate on ways to enhance the electoral system, following claims of electoral roll tampering in the recent assembly elections and concerns about duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers across various states.
Legal Framework
Under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, the EC is entrusted with overseeing, directing, and managing the preparation of electoral rolls and the execution of elections to Parliament and state legislatures.- The process of compiling electoral rolls is regulated by the Representation of the People Act, 1950, along with the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
- The method of voting has evolved significantly since India’s first general election in 1952. Initially, in 1952 and 1957, voters placed blank ballots into separate boxes marked with candidates’ symbols. From the third election in 1962, ballots featuring candidates’ names and symbols were introduced.
- Since the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been universally adopted, and since 2019, these have been supplemented by Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in all constituencies.
Challenges
Several concerns have emerged regarding the voting and counting processes. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a return to paper ballots was rejected by the Supreme Court in April 2024. The same PIL also requested full verification of VVPAT slips against EVM counts—currently limited to five machines per assembly segment—which the court declined.- However, it permitted engineers from EVM manufacturers to inspect the burnt memory of microcontrollers in 5% of EVMs per segment if tampering is suspected, upon written request from candidates finishing second or third within seven days of results being announced.
- Additionally, accusations of electoral roll manipulation surfaced before the Maharashtra and Delhi assembly elections, with opposition parties claiming fake voters were added to favor the ruling party.
- Another issue involves identical EPIC numbers appearing across states like West Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab, prompting allegations from parties like the Trinamool Congress of fraudulent voter inclusion. The EC attributed this to a previously decentralized EPIC allocation system, now replaced by the centralized ERONET platform, and emphasized that voters can only cast ballot