Page 2 - Electoral Reforms

Sale of 29th tranche of electoral bonds begins amidst polls in 5 states

The sale of the 29th tranche of electoral bonds started on Monday amidst assembly elections in five states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. This round of electoral bonds comes in a short interval of about a month after the 28th phase, which opened for sale on October 4. The government approved issuance of the latest round of electoral bonds, days after the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties. On October 31, a five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra commenced hearing arguments on the four petitions, including those filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). After the detailed hearing on the matter, the apex court reserved the judgement on November 2. Two days aft

Revision process of electoral rolls in Jharkhand from Oct 27: Official

The process of revision of electoral rolls in Jharkhand for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will commence from October 27, state chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar said on Thursday. A special drive to include members of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), sex workers and homeless in the electoral rolls will be launched from November 28. Kumar said as part of the special drive from November 28 to December 3, names of transgenders, PVTGs, sex workers, voters aged over 80 years, specially abled persons, homeless people and those living in shelter homes will be included in the list. The total number of polling booths in the state now stands at 29,521, up from 29,464 earlier, he said. Apart from 1.28 crore male and 1.22 crore female voters, there are 378 third gender voters, the official said. An advance form that can be filled by 6.59 lakh students, who are completing 18 years of age on January 1, 2024, to get included in the electoral rolls has been made available,

CEC Rajiv Kumar signs MoU with Seychelles to expand 'cooperation'

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Electoral Commission Chairperson of Seychelles Danny Lucas on 'Electoral Cooperation' in the capital of Seychelles. The MoU was signed to boost the exchange of best practices in election management and training officials. Taking to their social media 'X', the Election Commission of India stated, "#ECI Expands Electoral Collaboration. CEC @rajivkumarec & Mr. Danny Lucas, Chairperson, Electoral Commission #Seychelles sign MoU on 'Electoral Cooperation' at Victoria, Seychelles. MoU to strengthen the exchange of best practices in election mgt. & training of officials." Indo-Seychelles relations have been characterised by close friendship, understanding and cooperation. To facilitate cooperation further a number of bilateral agreements/MOUs have already been signed during the last few decades. Earlier this year, Rajiv Kumar held productive discussions with the Chief Election ...

Chhattisgarh's rare feat and the importance of the 'woman vote bank'

This year, the Prime Minister announced specific schemes for women' self-help groups in his Independence Day speech

Comprehensive consultations with stakeholders must for reforms: Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said comprehensive consultations with stakeholders, including political parties, are essential for implementing electoral reforms. Referring to various proposals on electoral reforms moved by the Election Commission, he said consultations and discussions are a "symbol" of a vibrant democracy. He said the changes made in election laws a year ago have resulted in addition of over 1.5 crore new voters in the electoral list. Four cut-off dates instead of the one earlier has helped young eligible citizens to register as voters once they turn 18, he said. The minister also lauded the move to allow those above 17 years of age to register with the EC in advance. Once they turn 18, their names are added in the voters' list. Addressing the 13th National Voters' Day event here in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, companion Election Commissioners and representatives of various political parties, Rijiju ...

Over 2,000 Bru community voters removed from Mizoram's electoral roll

The names of more than 2,000 Bru voters have been deleted from the electoral roll of Mizoram following their enrolment in neighbouring Tripura's voter list, an election official said. Mizoram Joint Chief Electoral Officer David Liansanglura Pachuau said the state election department has received the deletion request of over 3,000 names from its Tripura counterpart so far. Of this, the names of 2,091 Bru voters have been removed from Mizoram's voter list to date and deletion of the remaining voters is underway, he said. The official said the Bru voters, who resettled in Tripura after not returning to Mizoram during repatriations, were electors of nine assembly constituencies in three districts of Mizoram. Among the disenfranchised Bru voters, 1,643 hailed from Mamit, 187 from Kolasib and 262 from Lunglei district, he said. He said the deletion was done as per the requests sent by the Tripura election department through Electoral Roll Officer Net (ERONet). Pachuau said they have ..

Naqvi bats for 'one nation, one voter list' as essential electoral reform

Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday batted for the 'one nation, one voter list', saying that there is a need for paramount and path-breaking reforms in the electoral process of the country. The former minority affairs minister was addressing a conference at an event organised here to celebrate the birth anniversary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. "Different voter lists for elections to Panchayat, Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Vidhan Sabha, Lok Sabha and other elections not only create confusion but also raise questions on the credibility of the voter lists. 'one nation, one voter list' and 'one nation, one voter card' can help to solve this problem," he said. Naqvi said many significant electoral reforms took place in the year 2000 during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee including the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), ban on contesting from more than two places, limit on election expenditu

SC asks Surjewala to approach HC against law linking Aadhaar with Voter ID

The Supreme Court asked Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala to approach the Delhi High Court with his plea challenging the Election Law Amendment Act

Mexico prez Andres Manual Lopez Obrador proposes dramatic electoral reforms

Lpez Obrador's administration argues that the changes would save Mexico $1.2 billion and allow citizens to select honest people to run elections

The economics of electoral promises

India needs a debate as to what percentage of general government revenue can be used for subsidies and cash transfers

Union Cabinet learnt to have cleared bill on electoral reforms

The reforms include the one to link electoral roll with Aadhaar on a voluntary basis to root out multiple enrolments

Quick economic reform in India depends on quicker political reform

Every political party when it is in power realises that the absence of simultaneous elections along with the presence of the Concurrent List, make reforms difficult.

Top EC officials likely to brief parl panel on electoral reforms: Report

A discussion will be held on various other electoral reforms planned by the EC, including singular voter list for the Lok Sabha, state assembly and panchayat elections: Report

Former CEC pitches for state-funding of polls

Krishnamurthy said originally he was not in favour of the state-funding of election

CPI for all party meeting on electoral reforms

S Sudhakar Reddy noted that the CPI and other Left parties have been demanding immediate electoral reforms