Centre's proposal to ECI to apply one candidate, one seat rule

The Election Commission has sent six important proposals to the Law Ministry, an Election Commission official said

New delhi date. 13 June 2022, Monday

Soon after taking over as the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar wrote a letter to the Law Ministry requesting it to issue a notification to link the voter identity card with the Aadhaar card. The Chief Election Commissioner has also sent a proposal to the central government to fix 4 dates for people to register as voters, ban exit and opinion polls and make it a rule for a candidate to contest from only one seat.

The Election Commission has sent six important proposals to the Law Ministry, an Election Commission official said. We have requested the government to notify the rule of 4 cut-off dates for linking Aadhaar card with voter ID and to register eligible persons as voters. After the Rajya Sabha Election Act Bill 2021 was passed by voice vote in December 2021, the way to link voter identity card with Aadhaar card became clear. The opposition walked out of the House in protest of the bill. Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections.

The EC also sought the right to de-register political parties

The Election Commission has also sought the right to cancel the registration of political parties and amended Form 24A to make it mandatory to disclose information about all election contributions above Rs 2,000 instead of Rs 20,000.

Parties that have failed to submit a contribution report to the Election Commission or have not notified the Commission about any change in their name, office, officers and official address are being de-registered.

Prohibition of broadcasting of opinion and exit polls

The Election Commission noted in its booklet on proposed electoral reforms in 2016 that many political parties register but never contest elections. Such parties are only on paper. The possibility of forming a political party to keep an eye on the benefits of income tax exemption cannot be ruled out. It would be reasonable that those who have the power to register political parties should also have the right to register political parties in appropriate cases. The Election Commission has also recommended a ban on exit polls and opinion polls.

A candidate should make it a rule to contest from a single seat

Renewing one of its long standing demands, the Election Commission has requested the Central Government to amend Section 33 (7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. So the number of seats a candidate can contest from can be limited. The Representation of the People Act 1951 currently allows 1 person to contest a general election or a by-election group or a biennial election from 2 constituencies. In the year 2004 also, the Election Commission proposed to amend Section 33 (7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.