Concept of Simultaneous Elections Views of Election Commission

ECI has given its views on the issues that may come up if simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Leg Assemblies are to be considered. In March, 2015, a note was sent for the Parliamentary Committee. In May, 2016, views were communicated to the Law Ministry when they sought comments on the 79th Report of Department Related Parliamentary Committee. In May, 2018 and July, 2018, inputs given to the Law Commission on some of the points raised by them.

Tenure of Houses-Constitutional Provisions Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies have term of 5 years from the date appointed for the first meeting of the House, and no longer. -Art. 83(2) & 174(2)(b). Expiry of the period of 5 years shall operate as dissolution of the House. Extension of the term of the House beyond 5 years is possible only when proclamation of emergency is in operation. -proviso to clause (2) of Article 83 and 172(1).

Need to synchronise terms For simultaneous elections to be possible in the first place, terms of Lok Sabha and Leg Assemblies of all States have to end simultaneously. Currently, terms of Leg Assemblies of five States are expiring around the time of expiry of Lok Sabha’s term. Thus, terms of other Leg Assemblies will need to be made co- terminus with the term of Lok Sabha. This will necessitate amendments in the relevant Constitutional provisions so as to extend or curtail terms of Leg Assemblies of the remaining States.

Pre-mature dissolution of House Even if terms of all Houses are synchronised, the terms can get disturbed in view of the following constitutional provisions- Art. 85(2) (b) empowers the President to dissolve Lok Sabha prematurely. Similarly, there under Art. 174(2) (b), Governor may dissolve the State Legislative Assembly. Further, Legislative Assembly may also be dissolved by President under Art. 356. Such pre-mature dissolution can disturb the cycle of simultaneous terms.

Period for notifying elections. Sub-section (1) of Section 14 of R.P. Act 1951 deals with notifying of general election to Lok Sabha. Sub-section (1) mandates that general election shall be held for the purpose of constituting a new House on the expiry of the duration of the existing House or on its dissolution. Sub-section (2) of Sec 14 provides for issuing of notification for the said purpose (i.e. for constituting new House). Proviso under Sub-section (2) of Sec. 14 provides that in the case of election on the expiry of the normal term of Lok Sabha, notification calling election cannot be issued earlier than 6 months before the date on which the term is to expire. Identical provisions for LA also.

Period for notifying elections In 1984, a writ petition was filed before the Allahabad High Court (Anand Mohan Vs. Union of India) challenging the notification calling election to Lok Sabha issued on 20-11-1984 to constitute new House (term of the then Lok Sabha was due to expire on 20-01-1985). The ground taken by the petitioner was that election could be held only after the term of the existing Lok Sabha expired.

Period for holding election The Allahabad High Court rejected the contention and dismissed the petition. The High Court held `…..the spirt of democracy which pervades the Indian Constitution will gather greater strength if a convention is developed that the elections to the House of the People are held for constituting a new House before the expiry of its duration so that the new House may commence its functions without any loss of time.’ Thus, the scheme of the law is that election has to be held in time to constitute the new House by the date of expiry of term of existing House, but the process has to be during the window of last 6 months.

Election on dissolution of Leg Assembly There is no provision in the law fixing time limit for holding election on pre-mature dissolution of a Legislative Assembly. Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that on pre-mature dissolution, it is the duty of ECI to hold elections at the earliest. By way of time limit, the Supreme Court held that elections should be held within 6 months from the date of dissolution of the Assembly. (Judgment dated 28-10-2002 in Special Reference No1 of 2002) Thus, the scheme of the law is that in the case of normal expiry of term, election has to be held during the last six months, and on pre- mature dissolution, election to be held within the next 6 months.

Pre-mature dissolution- Some suggestions In order to avoid premature dissolution of House, provisions may be made in the law that any ‘no-confidence motion’ against government should necessarily include a ‘ confidence motion’ in favour of a government to be headed by a named individual as the future Prime Minister/Chief Minister and voting should place for the two motions together. This will ensure that even if a government is voted out, another alternative government is voted in, and the House is not dissolved.

Alternative proposal If synchronising the terms of all Legislative Assemblies with that of Lok Sabha for having simultaneous elections is considered to be to be a difficult proposition, an alternative could be to have all elections falling due in one year to be held together in a particular period of the year. This will ensure that in one particular year, there is only one round of elections in normal course.

Model Code and governance issues One of the points raised in support of the need to reduce repeated elections is that enforcement of MCC has a paralysing effect on governance. MCC only prohibits new schemes, new projects , announcement of financial grants, ad-hoc appointments, during the period of MCC (which is from date of announcement of election till completion of election). Ongoing projects that have started on ground can proceed.

Model Code If any new work has to taken up immediately for tackling specific problems and in emergencies where relief is required to be provided, ECI does not refuse approval for undertaking relief measures. Reference made by the Govt. in such situations are cleared by the Commission immediately. Spirit of MCC is that ruling party should not take undue advantage of being in power, and level playing field is ensured for all stakeholders.

Logistic issues in simultaneous elections Polling personnel & security forces Simultaneous elections will entail requirement of more polling personnel. Consequently, transport facilities for the personnel as well as of additional EVMs and other polling materials will be needed. The requirement of Central Armed Police Force(CAPF) may also increase marginally at least given that increase in number of candidates in the fray and campaign activities will call for more security.

EVM-VVPAT Requirement for Simultaneous Elections-2019 Estimated Polling Stations: 10,60,000 Deployment Norms for EVM/VVPAT: Ballot Unit: 171% Control Unit: 125% VVPAT: 135% During Simultaneous Elections, 2 sets of EVMs needed at each Polling Booth. Details of Units Ballot Units Control Units VVPATs Total Availability by Nov-2018 23,35,182 17,12,366 17,65,830 Reqt for Simultaneous Elections-2019 36,25,000 (10.60 lac x 1.71 x 2) 26,50,000 (10.60 lac x1.25 x 2) 28,62,000 (10.60 lac x1.35 x 2) Shortfall 12,89,818 9,37,634 10,96,170

Additional Financial Requirement for Simultaneous Elections-2019 Present Cost of EVM/VVPAT: Ballot Unit: Rs.7,700 per Unit Control Unit: Rs.9,300 per Unit VVPAT: Rs.16,200 per Unit Total Additional expenditure: Unit No. Of Units Reqd Basic Cost per unit (INR) Total Basic Cost (in Crores) Expected GST (@18%)-in Crores Total Cost (in Crores) BU 12,90,000 7,700/- 993.30 178.80 1,172.10 CU 9,40,000 9,300/- 874.20 157.36 1,031.56 VVPAT 10,96,000 16,200/- 1,775.52 319.60 2,095.12 Total 3643.02 655.76 4298.78

Present Orders likely to be completed by November- 2018. Time required for additional production of evm/vvpat for Simultaneous Elections-2019 Present Orders likely to be completed by November- 2018. Time Frame for Additional Production by PSUs: Unit No. of Units Reqd Average Production Output per month (as per past performance) Time reqd for production (in Months) Likely Time Frame of Co (Starting Dec-2018)* BU 12,90,000 1,50,000 8.6 August 2019 CU 9,40,000 1,00,000 9.4 September 2019 VVPAT 10,96,000 10.1 October 2019 *Assuming Orders are placed Today as 3-4 months Lead Time reqd for component procurement.

FLC: Additional Logistics required for Simultaneous Elections-2019 Present FLC likely to be completed by December- 2018. The FLC can commence only after start of delivery. Time Frame for FLC of Additional Units: Unit No. of Units Reqd Man days reqd to complete FLC per team of 5 pax* No of teams reqd to complete in 90 days No of teams reqd to complete in 60 days EVM Units =(BU+CU)/2 11,15,000 =(12,90,000+ 9,40,000)/2 14,866 165 =825 (165x5) engineers 247 =1,235 engineers VVPAT 10,96,000 14,614 162 =810 (162x5) engineers 243 =1,215 engineers Total: 22,11,000 29,480 1,635 2,450 *Assuming FLC Output of 15 Units (EVM or VVPAT) per Engineer Per day.

EVM-VVPAT Requirement for Simultaneous Elections-2024 Estimated Polling Stations: 12,19,000 (15% increase over 2019) Deployment Norms for EVM/VVPAT: Ballot Unit: 171% Control Unit: 125% VVPAT: 135% During Simultaneous Elections, 2 sets of EVMs needed at each Polling Booth. *It is presumed that 5.3 lakh M2 EVMs (vintage 2006-2010) will continue to be used till 2024. Details of Units Ballot Units Control Units VVPATs Availability by before Simultaneous Election-2024* 36,25,000 26,50,000 28,62,000 Reqt for Simultaneous Elections-2024 41,68,980 (12.19 lac x 1.71 x 2) 30,37,500 (12.19 lac x1.25 x 2) 32,91,300 (12.19 lac x1.35 x 2) Shortfall 5,43,980 3,87,500 4,29,300

Additional Financial Requirement for Simultaneous Elections-2024 Present Cost of EVM/VVPAT: Ballot Unit: Rs.7,700 per Unit Control Unit: Rs.9,300 per Unit VVPAT: Rs.16,200 per Unit Total funds required: Unit No. Of Units Reqd Basic Cost per unit (INR) Total Basic Cost (in Crores) Expected GST (@18%)-in Crores Total Cost (in Crores) BU 5,43,980 7,700/- 418.87 75.40 494.27 CU 3,37,500 9,300/- 369.70 66.55 436.25 VVPAT 4,29,300 16,200/- 695.47 125.18 820.65 Total 1484.04 267.13 1751.17

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