Elections

• Universal Adult Suffrage (Article 326): The constitutional principle that every Indian citizen who is at least $18\text{ years of age}$ has the equal right to vote in parliamentary (Lok Sabha) and legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) elections, without any discrimination based on caste, creed, religion, sex, race, wealth, or educational qualifications.
• Constitutional Amendment: The $61^{\text{st}}$ Constitutional Amendment Act of 1988 lowered the voting age from $21\text{ years}$ to $18\text{ years}$.

• General Elections: Held throughout the entire country (or state) at regular intervals of five years upon the normal completion of the tenure of the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly.
• Mid-Term Elections: Held across the nation or state when the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha is dissolved prematurely before completing its full five-year term (e.g., when the government loses a confidence vote and no alternative government can be formed). The resulting house serves for a full fresh five-year term.
• By-Elections: Held in one single specific constituency to fill a sudden vacancy caused by the death, resignation, or disqualification of an elected sitting MP or MLA. The elected member serves only for the unexpired remainder of the original term.

• Direct Elections: An election where eligible citizens cast their votes directly to elect their representatives.
Example: Election of Members of the Lok Sabha (MPs) or State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs).
• Indirect Elections: An election where the citizens do not vote directly; instead, their previously elected representatives (such as MPs and MLAs) cast ballots to choose the candidate.
Example: Election of the President of India or Members of the Rajya Sabha.

• Composition: Under Article 324, the Election Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners.
• Appointment: They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (or selection committee).

• Security of Tenure: The CEC cannot be removed from office at the whim of the ruling political executive. They can only be removed from office through formal impeachment by Parliament on proven misbehavior or incapacity, requiring a resolution passed by a two-thirds ($2/3$) majority of members present and voting in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (identical to a Supreme Court Judge).
• Protection of Service Conditions: Their salary, allowances, and conditions of service cannot be altered to their disadvantage after their appointment.

1. Preparation and Revision of Electoral Rolls: Compiling and updating the voter list before every election, issuing Voter Photo Identity Cards (EPIC).
   2. Delimitation of Constituencies: Demarcating territorial voting boundaries based on national census population data.
   3. Recognition of Parties and Allocation of Symbols: Granting recognition to National and State political parties and allocating official election symbols (e.g., Lotus, Hand).

• Model Code of Conduct: A set of authoritative guidelines and ethical rules formulated by consensus among political parties to ensure clean, free, and fair elections.
• It prohibits ruling ministers from misusing official government vehicles, helicopters, and funds for electioneering, forbids announcing new populist financial grants, and strictly bans inciting communal hatred or using places of worship for campaigning.
• When Effective: It comes into legal force immediately from the moment the Election Commission announces the election schedule.

• VVPAT: Stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail.
• Purpose: It is an independent verification printer attached to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). When a voter presses a blue button on the Balloting Unit, the VVPAT prints a paper slip displaying the serial number, name, and symbol of the chosen candidate.
• The slip is visible through a transparent glass window for $7\text{ seconds}$ so the voter can verify that their vote was recorded accurately, after which it automatically cuts and drops into a sealed audit box. It eliminates doubts about machine tampering.