(Source: IX NCERT Polity Chapter 4)
- A simple list of the minimum conditions of a democratic election:
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 really wish.
- 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.
- Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes (as on 1 September 2012). This number is in proportion to their share in the total population. Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group.
- 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 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.