Page 16 - Election Commission Of India

Why can't social media platforms block or label fakes, asks CEC Rajiv Kumar

He said election management bodies must devise and adopt a framework to manage these challenges

India nears 1 bn voters, with youth, women driving electoral growth: EC

The number of voters in India now stands at 99.1 crore, up from 96.88 crore when the Lok Sabha elections were held last year, the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday. In a statement issued ahead of National Voters' Day, the EC said the electoral rolls bear a youthful and gender-balanced look with 21.7 crore young electors in the 18-29 age group and a six-point increase in electoral gender ratio from 948 in 2024 to 954 in 2025. National Voters' Day is celebrated on January 25 every year to mark the foundation day of the EC, which was established on this day in 1950. Addressing a press conference here on January 7 to announce the Delhi assembly poll schedule, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said India would soon create a new record of one billion-plus voters. "Electoral rolls were released yesterday (January 6). We are crossing 99 crore voters... We are going to be a nation of one billion voters very soon, which will be another record in voting," he said. "After

ECI urges political parties for responsible use of AI in campaigning

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has consistently cautioned against the potential of AI and deep fakes

Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP-RSS, says 'we are fighting Indian state itself'

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of capturing Indian institutions, suppressing minorities, and undermining democracy, calling the Congress' fight a 'battle against the Indian state itself'

Election rules row: SC seeks govt, poll panel reply on Jairam Ramesh's plea

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and the poll panel on Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh's plea against the recent amendments, including no public access to CCTV, to the 1961 election rules. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of the submissions of senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Ramesh, and issued notices on the plea. The bench said it would hear the plea in the week commencing March 17. Singhvi said amendments to the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules were made "very cleverly" and barred any access to CCTV footage claiming it would reveal the identity of the voter. He said voting choices were never revealed and the CCTV footage couldn't reveal votes. The senior lawyer urged the bench to ask the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Centre to file their responses before the next date of hearing else they would come and say "reply is needed to be filed" on tha

Consider plea over duplicate entries in voter list: Delhi HC to EC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to consider at an appropriate stage a plea raising concerns over alleged duplication of names in the capital's voter list and adopt such technological tools that would assist it in eliminating such duplication. As the petitioner's counsel remarked that the Delhi assembly elections would be over by the time the Commission would consider his plea, a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru said, "before every election these matters come." "There is a process for revision of electoral roll. It can't be done at this stage," the bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, said. The petitioner remarked that even the "ex-chief minister" was aggrieved by the issue. Advocate Sidhant Kumar, appearing for the Election Commission, said the petition did not show a single instance of alleged duplication. He further stated that the Commission has already undertaken the necessary procedure for revision of electoral rol

800 more warehouses required to store EVMs for simultaneous polls: EC

The Election Commission (EC) has projected a requirement of 800 additional warehouses across the country to store EVMs and other equipment in case simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are held. The poll body has described the construction of warehouses as a "laborious process" entailing cost. The cost of the land and construction is borne by the respective state governments. The EC had shared its views on various aspects of holding simultaneous elections with the Law Commission and the Department of Legal Affairs in the Union law ministry in March 2023. Its views on the issue now form part of the documents shared with the members of the joint committee of Parliament examining the two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous polls in the country. "In case of simultaneous elections, for safe and secure storage of EVMs/VVPATs, there will be a requirement of about 800 additional warehouses...," the EC has said. It has noted that enforcing safety and .

Delhi polls: Relief for AAP's Avadh Ojha as ECI clears vote transfer

Delhi Assembly elections: An AAP delegation met election officials to demand the transfer of Avadh Ojha's voter ID from Greater Noida to Delhi. Ojha is AAP's candidate from Patparganj constituency

CM Atishi launches crowdfunding for Delhi polls; BJP to seek EC probe

Chief Minister and AAP's Kalkaji candidate Atishi on Sunday launched a crowdfunding campaign to contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls and said she hoped that people would support her party's politics of work and honesty. Addressing a press conference here, Atishi released an online link for people to donate money, saying she needed Rs 40 lakh to fight the elections. The AAP has always fought the elections with the help of small donations from the common man which has helped it pursue the politics of work and honesty, she said. "Despite being in power in Delhi for 10 years, the AAP does not have even a rupee of corruption. We will contest the polls with the support of the people of Delhi and the country, as has been done in the previous elections," she said when asked about the BJP's claim that the CAG has projected a loss of Rs 2,026 crore due to the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy. Targeting the BJP, Atishi said, "Perhaps they have collected enough money from the

EC defends model code as vital for a level playing field in elections

One of the key reasons cited by the government to push for simultaneous polls has been that frequent imposition of model code disrupts development work and normal public life, but the Election Commission has asserted it is a "vital instrumentality" aimed at providing level playing field in polls. According to the bills brought by the government to implement 'one nation, one election', there is an imperative need for holding simultaneous elections for various reasons including polls becoming expensive and time-consuming. The Constitution amendment bill to implement 'one nation, one election' said the imposition of a Model Code of Conduct in poll-bound parts of the country puts on hold the entire development programmes and causes disruption in normal public life. It said that frequent poll code imposition also impacts the functioning of services and diverts the man manpower from their core activities to election duties for prolonged periods. But the poll authority is of the view that

As India nears 1 bn electors, it seeks solutions to freebies, black money

Estimates of election related expenditure of political parties and candidates, and EC's seizures, reveal barely the tip of the total election spends of candidates and political parties

Will detox, go to Himalayas: CEC Rajiv Kumar on post-retirement plans

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday revealed his intention to "detoxify" himself and spend several months in solitude in the Himalayas post his retirement next month. Responding to a question while addressing a presser to announce the Delhi Assembly elections, he shared his post-retirement plans with an introspective touch. "I will detoxify myself for the next four-five months, go to the deep Himalayas, be away from the glare of all of you. I need some 'ekant' (solitude) and 'swadhyay' (self-study)," Kumar, who is set to retire on February 18, said. In October last year, Kumar was rescued from the remote Ralam village in Uttarkhand's Pithoragarh district following an emergency helicopter landing due to inclement weather and left stranded at over 12,000 feet. Kumar, a 1984-batch IAS officer from the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, also shared a personal aspiration to give back to society by teaching underprivileged children. He recounted his humble beginnings, studying

'No room for manipulation': ECI chief on Kejriwal's 'voter deletion' charge

'Draft rolls are sent to political parties on January 1, and they are given the opportunity to raise claims and objections,' CEC Rajiv Kumar said

Election Commission to announce Delhi poll schedule at 2 pm today

The Election Commission will on Tuesday announce the schedule for polls to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The Commission has convened a press conference at 2 pm on Tuesday to announce the election schedule. The term of the 70-member Assembly ends on February 23, and elections have to held before that to constitute a new House. Delhi has traditionally seen assembly polls in a single phase.

Voter ID alone doesn't ensure voting rights: Delhi chief electoral officer

Delhi's Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls nears completion and the final voter list will be published on January 6, 2025

Overseas Indian voters show poor participation in 2024 LS polls: EC data

Overseas Indians showed great enthusiasm in registering as electors, with nearly 1.2 lakh enrolling in the voter list, but a minuscule turned up to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections this year. According to the data released by the Election Commission, as many as 1,19,374 registered as overseas electors in 2024, with Kerala witnessing the highest registrations at 89,839. In 2019, as many as 99,844 had registered as overseas electors. The poll authority said only 2,958 overseas electors flew down to India to participate in the largest democratic exercise in the world. Of these, an overwhelming 2,670 were from Kerala alone. Several large states such as Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu saw zero turnout of overseas electors. Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, saw only two out of 885 overseas electors casting their votes in the Lok Sabha elections. The same was the story in Maharashtra, where only 17 of the 5,097 NRI electors voted. Despite an

One-third of Lok Sabha MPs elected with 30% or fewer votes in 2024: ECI

Party wise, BJP received a total of 23.59 crore votes, Congress secured a total of 13.67 crore votes, and Samajwadi Party received 2.95 crore votes in the 2024 General Election

28% of Lok Sabha seats had no woman candidate in 2024, shows ECI report

The highlight of the 2024 LS election was again the better turnout of woman electors in percentage terms than men

BJP leads political donations with Rs 2,244 cr in FY24, Cong just Rs 288 cr

BJP's donations surged to Rs 2,244 crore in 2023-24, triple the previous year, with Prudent Electoral Trust contributing Rs 723 crore. Congress raised Rs 288.9 crore, up from Rs 79.9 crore in 2022-23

One Nation, One Election bill could give ECI say over Assemblies' terms

In the current version of CAB, if a state's elections cannot be held with the LS, the EC will be empowered to declare the dates for those polls, effectively giving it final say on the Assembly's term