ELECTORAL
POLITICS
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
PragyanClass-9
School
Chapter-3
Democratic Politics
Elections
A mechanism by which
people can choose their
representatives atRojaramani Revalla
regular intervals and
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change them is called
Pragyan School
Election
Why do we
need elections?
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
They can choose
who will make laws
for them.
They can choose who will
form the government and
take major decisions.
Rojaramani
In an election
the votersRevalla
make many choices
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
They can choose the party
whose policies will guide
the government and law
making
Everyone should be
able to choose.
There should be
something to
choose from
The choice should
be offered at
regular intervals.
Rojaramani
Revalla elections
Minimum Conditions
of democratic
•
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
Elections should be
conducted in a free and
fair manner where
people can choose as
they really wish.
The candidate preferred
by the people should get
elected
Demerits of Electoral Competition
It creates a sense of disunity and
‘factionalism’ in every locality.
Different political parties and leaders
Rojaramani
often level allegations
against one Revalla
another.
PGT Political Science
Parties and candidates often use
Pragyan School
dirty tricks to win elections.
Some good people who may wish to
serve the country do not enter this
arena.
Elections are all about political
competition.
Yes! Regular electoral
competition provides
incentives to political
parties and leaders.
Is it good to
have political
competition?
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
Merits of Elections
• Regular electoral competition
provides incentives to
political parties and leaders.
• But if they fail to satisfy the
voters with theirRojaramani
work they Revalla
PGT
will not be able to
winPolitical
again. Science
• So if a political party
is School
Pragyan
motivated only by desire to
be in power, even then it will
be forced to serve the people
Evaluation questions
1. Define Elections.
2. Give reasons why do we need elections?
Rojaramani
3. What are the
minimumRevalla
conditions of
Political Science
democraticPGT
elections?
School
4. Parties andPragyan
candidates
often use ______ to
win elections
5. State any one demerit of Elections
6. State any one merit of elections
Types of Elections
Rojaramani Revalla
Science ByGeneralPGT Political
Mid-Term
School
ElectionsPragyan
Elections
Elections
General Elections
After five years the term
of all the elected
representatives comes
Rojaramani Revalla
to an end. The Lok
PGT
Political
Science
Sabha or Vidhan Sabha
stands ‘dissolved’.Pragyan School
Elections are held in all
constituencies at the
same time.
Mid-Term Elections
Any elections that occur before the
term can be called "midterm" elections.
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
By-Elections
Sometimes election is
held only for one
constituency to fill
Rojaramani Revalla
the vacancy caused
PGT Political Science
by death or
resignation of a Pragyan School
member.
This type of election
is called By Election
403 Assembly Constituencies
Constituency
The country or state is
Rojaramani Revalla
divided into different
areas for purposesPGT
of Political Science
elections. These areas
Pragyan School
are called electoral
constituencies.
Gautam Buddh Nagar Constituency
Rojaramani Revalla
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Pragyan School
Reserved Constituencies
• The makers of our Constitution thought of a
special system of reserved constituencies for the
weaker sections.
• Some constituencies
are Revalla
reserved for people who
Rojaramani
belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and
PGT Political Science
Scheduled Tribes [ST].
Pragyan
School only someone who
• In a SC reserved
constituency
belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for
election.
• Similarly only those belonging to the Scheduled
Tribes can contest an election from a constituency
reserved for ST.
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
Voters’ List
• In a democratic election,
the list of those who are
eligible to vote is
Rojaramani Revalla
prepared much before the
PGTtoPolitical Science
election and given
Pragyan School
everyone.
S
• This list is officially
called
the Electoral Roll and is
commonly known as the
Voters’ List.
Universal Adult Franchise
In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years and
above can vote
in an election.
Every citizen has the
Rojaramani
Revalla
right to vote, regardless
of hisScience
or her caste, religion
PGT Political
or gender. Pragyan School
EPIC
A new system of Election
Photo Identity Card [EPIC]
Rojaramani
Revalla
has been introduced. The
Science
government hasPGT
triedPolitical
to
School
give this card to Pragyan
every
person on the voters list.
Evaluation questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
Name the different types of elections
What is EPIC?
Who prepares
Voters’ List?
Rojaramani
Revalla
What do you
mean
by Universal
PGT
Political
ScienceAdult
Franchise?
Pragyan School
5. How many seats are reserved for SC and ST
currently in Lok Sabha?
6. What is the difference between EPIC and
Electoral Roll?
Nomination of candidates
Every candidate has to make a legal declaration,
giving full details of :
Rojaramani
Revalla
< Serious criminal
cases pending
against the
candidate;
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Pragyan School
< Details of the assets and liabilities of the
candidate and his or her family; and
< Educational qualifications of the candidate.
Election Campaign
• In election campaigns, political parties try to
focus public attention on some big issues.
Rojaramani Revalla
• They want to attract the public to that issue
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and get them to vote for their party on that
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basis.
Famous slogans
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Garibi
Hatao
Pragyan School
INDIRA GANDHI
Famous slogans
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political Science
Pragyan School
Save
Democracy
Famous slogans
Protect the self
Rojaramani Revalla
respect of the
PGT Political Science
Telugus’
Pragyan School
N T RAMARAO
Laws to follow during elections
According to our election law, no party or
candidate can:
Rojaramani Revalla
• Bribe or threaten voters;
PGT Political
Science
• Appeal to them
in the name
of caste or
religion; Pragyan School
• Use government resources for election
campaign; and
• Spend more than ` 25 lakh in a constituency
for a Lok Sabha election or ` 10 lakh in a
constituency in an Assembly election.
Unfair practices during elections
According to our election law, no party or
candidate can:
Bribe or threaten voters; Appeal to them in the
name of caste
or religion;Revalla
Rojaramani
Use government
resources
for election
PGT Political
Science
campaign; and
Spend
more
than
`
25
lakh
in
a
Pragyan School
constituency for a Lok Sabha election or ` 10
lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election.
In addition to the laws, all the political parties in
our country have agreed to a Model Code of
Conduct for election campaigns.
Model code of conduct
 No party or candidate can: Use any place of
worship for election propaganda;
Rojaramani Revalla
PGT Political
Science
 Use government
vehicles,
aircrafts and
School
officials forPragyan
elections;
and Once elections
are announced,
 Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of
any projects, take any big policy decisions
or make any promises of providing public
facilities.
Evaluation questions
1. What all declarations a candidate has to make at
the time of filing nomination elections?
Rojaramani
Revalla
2. List out the unfair
practices during
elections
3. What is the PGT
ModelPolitical
code of conduct
for election
Science
campaign?
Pragyan School
4. Who gave the slogan Democracy bachao?
5. Who gave the slogan Garibi bachao?
Polling and counting of
votes
• The final stage
of an election
Rojaramani
Revallais the day
when the voters
cast or Science
‘poll’ their vote.
PGT Political
Pragyan
School
• That day is usually called the election day.
EVM
• Nowadays electronic voting
machines (EVM) are used to
record votes.
Rojaramani
Revalla
• The machine shows
the
names of the candidates
and Science
PGT Political
the party symbols.
Pragyan School
• All that the voter has to do is
to press the button against
the name of the candidate
she wants to give her vote.
https://youtu.be/ZJReQ8ao0SU
Independent Election Commission
• EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct
and control of elections from the announcement of
elections to the
declaration
of results.
Rojaramani
Revalla
• It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes
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any candidate or party that violates it.
Pragyan
School
• During the election
period,
the EC can order the
government to follow some guidelines, or to
transfer some government officials.
• When on election duty, government officers work
under the control of the EC and not the
government.
Popular participation
1. People’s participation in election is usually
measured by voter turnout figures.
2. In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged
Rojaramani
Revalla as compared
people vote
in larger proportion
to the richPGT
andPolitical
privilegedScience
sections.
School
3. They feelPragyan
that through
elections they can bring
pressure on political parties to adopt policies
and programmes favourable to them.
4. The interest of voters in election related
activities has been increasing over the years.
Acceptance of election out come
The outcome of India’s elections speaks for itself:
• The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at
the national and state level.
• In fact in every two out of the three elections held in the
last 25 years,Rojaramani
the ruling party
lost.
Revalla
• In the US, an incumbent or ‘sitting’ elected
PGT Political Science
representative rarely loses an election.
• In India aboutPragyan
half of theSchool
sitting MPs or MLAs lose
elections.
• Candidates who are known to have spent a lot of money
on ‘buying votes’ and those with known criminal
connections often lose elections.
• The electoral outcomes are usually accepted as
‘people’s verdict’ by the defeated party.
Challenges to free and fair elections
• Candidates and parties with a lot of money enjoy a
big and unfair advantage.
• In some parts of the country, candidates with
Rojaramani
Revalla
criminal connection
have been
able to push others
PGT Political
Science
out of the electoral
race
• Some familiesPragyan
tend to dominate
School political parties.
• Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary
citizens
• Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer
a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.
Evaluation questions
1. What is EVM?
2. State any two powers of Election Commission of
Rojaramani Revalla
India.
3. Write the fullPGT
formPolitical
of VVPT Science
School
4. What are thePragyan
challenges
to free and fair elections in
India.