SC verdict removes a major election funding mistake

The pre-2017 electoral funding system was far from perfect, but distortions like electoral bonds exacerbate the problem The Supreme Court, in a landmark decision on February 15, declared the electoral bonds scheme introduced by the previous Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2017, unconstitutional. The judgment has stirred a hornet’s nest with all kinds […]

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A Big Bang Poll Reform: Taking Election Commissioner selection out of government’s hands was long overdue

Supreme Court has done what successive governments shied away from. Selection of CEC and ECs by government was problematic. With weighty decisions on conducting elections and adjudicating disputes between parties to be made by this high constitutional office, election commissioner selection is best taken out of Executive’s hands On May 17, 2021, the Association for […]

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Why the Proposal to Have Remote Voting Machines Could Be Concealing More Than It Reveals

The proposal for remote voting for migrant resident voters (MRIs) is not new has its origins in an older proposal, to allow Non-Resident Indians to vote. There are serious issues with this. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a new initiative to introduce a ‘remote voting machine (RVM) system’ for migrant voters via its letter […]

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Interview: Why the Election Commission’s appointment is being questioned by the Supreme Court

Election Commission of India

This article is an interview of Prof Chhokar, Founder Member and Trustee of ADR, with Scroll.in.   On Thursday, the Supreme Court reserved its judgement on a batch of petitions challenging the appointment process of election commissioners, the officers who comprise the Election Commission – the body responsible for conducting national and state elections. Scroll.in spoke […]

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