Why in News?

• All Opposition parties told a Parliamentary panel that the existing first-past-the-post-system needs to be replaced
• Instead a hybrid format where elections for a small number of seats are through proportional representation must be held.

Backdrop

• The Committee sought the views of all political parties in the backdrop of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections held in March this year
• The BJP which got 39 per cent of the vote share but won 312 seats, while the Samajwadi Party with 21.8 per cent votes got 47 seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party with 22.2 per cent got 19 seats

Arguments before the committee

• “majority aspirations” and the “actual will of the people” is not getting reflected in election results.
•  the first-past-the-post system had worked well in the beginning because
• there was one party.
• The voting percentage was also very high.
• But now because of a division of votes, a party with even 20% share does not get a single seat, while a party with 28% can get disproportionately large number of seats
• Alternatives suggested-
• A dual system where separate votes for a candidate and a party could be considered.
• This system is followed by various European countries. 
• The recommendations of the Law Commission’s 170th and 255th report should be implemented. A mix of both first-past-the-post and proportional representation should be tried.
• Both the reports have suggested that 25% or 136 more seats should be added to the present Lok Sabha and be filled by Proportional Representation.
• No ruling party had ever got 51 per cent of the votes polled. “Minority democracy” has been ruling the country since independence.

What is the first-past-the-post

•  A first-past-the-post (abbreviated as FPTP, 1stP, 1PTP or FPP) voting method is one in which voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives most votes wins.

ADVANTAGES OF FPTP

• a clear-cut choice for voters between two main parties.
• It gives rise to single-party governments.
• coalition governments are the exception rather than the rule.
• Gives cabinets which are not shackled by the restraints of having to bargain with a minority coalition partner.
• It gives rise to a coherent opposition in the legislature.
• Theoretically it is supposed to give opposition enough seats to perform a critical checking role and present itself as a realistic alternative to the government of the day.
• It incentivises parties to be ‘broad churches’, encompassing many elements of society, particularly when there are only two major parties and many different societal groups
• It excludes extremist parties from representation in the legislature.
• Unless an extremist minority party’s electoral support is geographically concentrated, it is unlikely to win any seats under FPTP.
• It promotes a link between constituents and their representatives, as it produces a legislature made up of representatives of geographical areas. It allows voters to choose between people rather than just between parties
• It gives a chance for popular independent candidates to be elected. 
• simple to use and understand. A valid vote requires only one mark beside the name or symbol of one candidate. Even if the number of candidates on the ballot paper is large, the count is easy for electoral officials to conduct.

DISADVANTAGES OF FPTP

• It excludes smaller parties from ‘fair’ representation
• It excludes minorities from fair representation. 
• It excludes women from the legislature.
• The ‘most broadly acceptable candidate’ syndrome also affects the ability of women and minority candidates to be elected to legislative office because they are often less likely to be selected as candidates by male-dominated party structures.
• Incentivises political parties based on clan, ethnicity or region
• their campaigns and policy platforms are based on conceptions that are attractive to the majority of people in their district or region but exclude or are hostile to others. 
• Creates what are called as ‘regional fiefdoms’ where one party wins all the seats in a province or area. 
• It leaves a large number of wasted votes which do not go towards the election of any candidate.
• This can be particularly dangerous if combined with regional fiefdoms, because minority party supporters in the region may begin to feel that they have no realistic hope of ever electing a candidate of their choice.
• It can also be dangerous where alienation from the political system increases the likelihood that extremists will be able to mobilize anti-system movements.
• It can cause vote-splitting. Where two similar parties or candidates compete under FPTP, the vote of their potential supporters is often split between them, thus allowing a less popular party or candidate to win the seat.
• It may be unresponsive to changes in public opinion as the support base of the winning party may be narrow. 
• FPTP systems are dependent on the drawing of electoral boundaries. All electoral boundaries have political consequences: there is no technical process to produce a single ‘correct answer’ independently of political or other considerations. Boundary delimitation may require substantial time and resources if the results are to be accepted as legitimate.

Mixed-member system 

•  A mixed-member system, also known as a hybrid voting system, is a multi-winner electoral system which combines the principles of proportional representation and plurality voting. Pasted from

Advantages

• Inclusiveness
• Proportionality
• Geographical representation
• Accountability
• Few votes wasted

Disadvantages

• Complicated
• Requires boundary delimitation
• Can create 2 classes of representatives

RIGHT TO RECALL

What is Right to  recall?

• Recall is a term used to describe a process whereby the electorate can petition to trigger a vote on the suitability of an existing elected representative to continue in office.
• In essence, it gives the voters an opportunity to remove representatives whom they feel are not doing a good job.
• Right to Recall (RTR) confers the electorate a right of recall that can be initiated by any elector within a particular constituency through a recall petition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total number of electors.
• Subscribed by several countries there is a huge variation in actual practice. many countries like the Philippines, Venezuela, some states of the USA, Switzerland, etc, have already made provisions in varying forms in their respective constitutions. Canada and the US also allow the right to recall on grounds of misfeasance and misconduct.

India and the Right to recall

• There is no provision in the Indian Constitution or in the Representation of People’s Act-1951 for the recall of a duly elected member.
• The Representation of the People Act, 1951 only provides for vacation of office upon the commission of certain offences and does not account for general incompetence or dissatisfaction of the electorate as a ground for vacation.
• In India, provision for recall exists at the level of local bodies in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
• Through this decision the power is given directly to the electorate --- if two-thirds of the registered voters of a particular constituency sign a petition, the government can take steps for removal of the corporator.

Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• MPs and MLAs should be recalled within two years from being elected if 75% of those who voted for them are not satisfied with their performance
• It is a provision in the bill moved by BJP MP Varun Gandhi
• Recalling process can be initiated by any voter of the constituency by filing a petition before the Speaker, signed by at least one-fourth of the total number of electors
• After confirming its authenticity, the Speaker will move the application to the Election Commission for its verification and authentication of the voters’ signatures on it.
• The Commission will verify the signatures on it and will organise the voting on 10 places in the respective constituency of MP or MLA
• If three-fourth of the votes that member was polled in his election, go in favour of the recall process, the member will be recalled
• Once the seat gets duly vacated the Commission can organise a by-poll in that constituency

Advantages of the right to recall

• It will ensure accountability of the representative to the constituency
• It will keep the elected representatives on their toes
• It will help deepen democracy in the country
• It will help curb the influence and money and muscle power in politics

Disadvantages

• It will increase the cost of elections
• It will increase the work pressure on the Election Commission
• The process will be fraught by politics
• It will result in populism creeping in
• On account of the lack of fixed tenure the policy making will get impacted
• All the energies of people's representatives will be spent on acceding to people's whims and fancies

State Funding of Elections

What is meant by the idea

•  Government gives funds to political parties or candidates for contesting elections.
• Aim: To obviate the need for contestants to take money from powerful moneyed interests. 

How is eligibility decided

• The performance in the last election is taken as the criteria
• SY Qureshi, former CEC, has suggested the idea that it could be based on the votes polled in the last election
• Additionally, number of seats elected can also be used
• A cut off criteria in terms of votes polled or seats won or both can also be used to weed out insincere parties being formed

Direct and Indirect Funding

• The former refers to giving direct funding to the parties
• The latter is related to subsidized or free media access, tax benefits, free access to public spaces for campaign material display, provision of utilities and travel expenses, transport, security etc.

Indian scenario

• Current state funding measures include provision of free time on public broadcasters for national parties in general elections and for registered state parties in state legislature elections.
• Besides this, national parties are provided some benefits like security, office space, utility subsidies etc.
• Another form of indirect state funding available in India is that registered political parties do not have to pay income tax, as laid down in S.13A of the Income Tax Act.

Committees on the issue

• The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998), Law Commission Report on Reform of the Electoral Laws (1999), National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2001) and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008).
• Except for the 2001 report, all other recommended partial state funding only, given the economic situation of the country.
• The Gupta committee report said that state funds should be given only to registered national and state parties and that it should be given in kind only.
• The 1999 report concurred with this but also recommended first putting a strong regulatory framework in place including internal elections, accounting procedures etc. The 2001 report said that first a regulatory framework needs to be established before thinking about state funding.

Advantages of Public funding

• It will keep the electoral arena free from vested interests
• It will reduce corruption which starts during the electoral fray
• It will usher in genuine and inclusive democracy in the country
• Common man will also be able to join politics
• It will enhance the transparency and accountability of political parties and candidates

Challenges

• It will entail a huge cost to the exchequer
• Ensuring transparency and accountability
• Without internal democracy in the parties it would not be fruitful
• It will proliferate political parties and candidates resulting in added cost and adminsitrative burden

Idea of Totalizer Machine

 What is the totalizer machine and why is it in NEWS?

• A machine that mixes all the votes together before counting. It can be connected to 14 EVMs and the votes polled on these machines can then be electronically mixed so that a final count is made available.
• It is in NEWS as SC has asked the government to set a deadline for the use of Totaliser machines along with the Electronic Voting Machines

 What is the current practice and its impact?

• In the current scenario, the voting machines are not connected to a totalizer and consequently one can easily get the share of votes to different candidates polled on that machine.
• Since for administrative convenience, people residing in same areas poll their votes in a particular room and on the same machine, it gives a clear trend of political support in the area.
• It also facilitates booth management strategies that are often driven by caste and communal identities and  require polarization and violence.
• This is a violation of secrecy of ballot system and has inherent political consequence.
• It can result in a violent backlash from the looser or  categorical neglect from a winner. In either case it is the common citizen who suffer and our democracy gets a setback.
• Often people are fearful of voting, lest they would antagonize the powerful muscleman by voting as per their conscience. A poor turnout is often the result of this limitation.

How will the Totalizer machine help?

• Booth wise results will not be available and hence the secrecy of the collective voting pattern will be maintained.
• Help in conducting free and fair elections
• Consistent with earlier practice of mixing ballots thoroughly before counting
• Booth Management strategies driven by caste and communal agendas will be undermined
• It will protect common people from reprisal of powerful politicians
• Will increase voting percentage
• Help in reduction poll violence

Simultaneous Elections

 The Issue

• The simultaneous holding of elections to Centre and State has once again surfaced in larger public discourse as President Pranab Mukherjee has supported the idea and urged all political parties to do away with constant elections so that the political stability can be ensured.
• Parliamentary Standing Committee in a report in December 2015 had suggested the same
• The PM has also said the same and included even local body elections in the ambit. Earlier in 2010 L K Advani had made a similar suggestion
• Until 1967 elections of Parliament and State were held simultaneously

Recomendations of the Standing Committee

• Elections of legislative assemblies whose term ends six months after the general elections to Lok Sabha can be clubbed together.
• In order to hold early elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, a motion for an early general election or a no confidence motion must be passed by the House.
• Elections could be held in two phases. It stated that elections to some Legislative Assemblies could be held during the midterm of Lok Sabha. Elections to the remaining legislative assemblies could be held with the end of Lok Sabha‟s term.

Rationale behind the idea

• Cost: Conducting free and fair elections involves huge costs to the exchequer. Doing them simultaneously will certainly optimise the costs of EVMs, paramilitry forces, voter slips, electoral staff etc. The cost includes the cost of holding the lections and also the cost incurred by candidates and political parties. S Y Qureshi in a recent article put the figure at 30000 crore in the last election
• Manpower stretched: The manpower required for conducting the elections is huge and it naturally gets stretched on account of multiple election duties
• Service Delivery hampered: Once the administration is in election mode important service deliveries are negatively affected
• Policy Paralysis: With the Model Code of Conduct in place important policy decisions cannot  be taken and this impacts the policy making at every level. The nation is perpetualy in an election mode making tough decisions virtually impossible as they affect the voting behavior.
• Development work stopped: Development works are consequently stopped on account of elections
• Inconvenience to common man: Elections and all that goes with it creates nuisance for the common man
• Bottle neck for reforms: Since we have some state or the other poll bound every year, it results in country being in the election mode perpetually. Hence National parties which lead coalitions at the Centre find it difficult to implement reforms that are not populist. It thus scuttles the reform agenda of the Centre
• Other Vices: Vices such as communalism, casteism, crony capitalism etc raise their ugly heads during elections and this naturally vitiates the political atmosphere in the country. And if we perpetually stay in the election mode then there is no respite from these
• Co-operative Federalism: It will ensure co-operative federalism as people may vote for the same party at the centre and state.
• Political workers: The workers of political parties can then better prioritise their energies for variius outreach and welfare functions.

Pitfalls of holding simultaneous elections

• Since our political setup functions on the principle of confidence of the legislature and functioning of the constitutional machinery, state assemblies may get dissolved earlier. Thus making simultaneous elections impossible
• Voters voting for local elections may easily get swayed by a national wave in favour of a party. As per a latest study by Mumbai based think tank IDFC Institute, the Indian voter is, unlike the popular perception, not very astute to distinguish between voting for national and state elections
• Local and national issues may get clubbed in the mind of the voter unduly influence his decision
• The multiple elections also act as an effective mechanism of ensuring accountability for workers
• Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi had in a article suggested that although the idea of simultaneous elections was “good in principle,” it was “fraught with constitutional issues and administrative problems”.
• The companies of Para Military required would be 3500 in place of 700-800 that are now available. This would require raising of a huge number of troops in these forces.
• To ensure such elections one will have to manipultate the elections in states by extending the life of the Assembly or dissolving it early. Both, will naturally cause favouritism on part of the party in power at Centre to creep in.

Benefits of current system

• It gives a boost to the economy
• It enforces accountability on the representative
• It keeps politicians on the toes
• It has some environmental benefits such as it prevents defacements of  public and private property
• Local and national issues don’t get mixed in voters minds

Other Suggestions

• The vote of confidence must contain an expression of confidence in an alternate government. While this will save the fallouts of elections, it will result in a graver outcome of horse trading and undermining the mandate of the people
• Reducing the time required for conducting elections to half by increasing the para military staff at ECs disposal by 5 times
• State funding of political parties