Page 2 - Elections

Explained: What is the process of voter deletion in India and how it works

Rahul Gandhi alleged that elections are being rigged through software-driven fraud. Here's a look at India's voter deletion rules and safeguards to prevent arbitrary removal of names from the rolls

Nepal dissolves Parl, sets elections for March 2026 under interim PM Karki

Announcing the decision, the President's Office said the dissolution was approved in the first cabinet meeting convened by Karki at 11 pm, marking the start of a six-month transitional government

EC top brass reviews pan-India SIR preparedness with state poll machinery

A crucial meeting of the Election Commission with its state officials is underway to discuss preparations for a pan-India roll out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. While senior EC officials are expected to make a presentation on the SIR policy of the Commission, the chief electoral officer of Bihar would share the state's experience in implementing SIR. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said. The Commission has said that after Bihar, SIR will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of ..

Argentina's President Milei faces setback in Buenos Aires provincial polls

The party of Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei suffered a sweeping setback Sunday in Buenos Aires provincial elections that are viewed as a barometer for how the party will perform in congressional midterms and a key test for the embattled president. Milei's recently formed libertarian party lagged with nearly 34 per cent of the vote, with the majority of votes counted. Peronism, the ideologically flexible populist movement that has held sway in Argentina for decades, lead polls with nearly 47 per cent of the vote. The results were a significant blow to Milei, who has made radical changes in Argentina perpetually crisis-stricken economy. While the peso has stabilised from previously soaring inflation, harsh scarcity measures have been felt by much of the South American nation's working class. Eyes were on the local election because the province is polarised between the political currents and seen as an indication of how the balance is tipping before congressional ...

Japan's PM Shigeru Ishiba resigns following party's election loss

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced Sunday he will step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election. Ishiba, who took office in October, had resisted demands from mostly right-wing opponents within his own party for more than a month. The resignation comes one day before his Liberal Democratic Party will decide whether to hold an early leadership election a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved. Ishiba said he would start a process to hold a party leadership vote to choose his replacement and that there was no need for Monday's decision.

Serbia police clash with thousands of protesters demanding free elections

Baton-wielding riot police in a northern Serbia town on Friday fired tear gas and charged at thousands of peaceful protesters who were demanding free elections and justice after months of demonstrations against the autocratic rule of President Aleksandar Vucic. The protest led by university students came more than 10 months after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in the town of Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The disaster ignited a wave of public outrage over alleged state corruption and negligence, which demonstrators cite as causes of the collapse. There were no immediate reports of injuries in Friday's chaos triggered by the police action. Ambulances could be seen driving through Novi Sad's streets. Vucic, who has said he wants to take Serbia to the European Union, has branded the protesters as terrorists who want to unseat him with the help of the West. He attended a gathering earlier this week in China that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders o

Thailand elects Anutin Charnvirakul as PM amid easing political turmoil

The former construction magnate secured the top spot only with the support of the pro-democracy People's Party, which demanded he commit to hold elections within months

Bihar SIR: After SC directive, EC allows excluded voters to submit Aadhaar

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday said people who have been left out of Bihar's draft voter list can submit a copy of their Aadhaar to include their name in the electoral roll, after the Supreme Court directed the poll authority to accept the card as proof of identity. In a statement, the EC said according to rules, the claims and objections are to be disposed of by the concerned electoral registration officer not before the expiry of seven days after the verification of eligibility documents. It also underlined that according to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without passing a speaking order by the electoral registration officer (ERO) after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity. The list of 65 lakh people excluded from the draft list is available on the websites of the district magistrates of Bihar. "Aggrieved persons may submit their claims along with a copy of their

AI, deepfakes real challenges before election commission: CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said artificial intelligence and deepfakes pose a real challenge for the poll panel, which will try its best to tackle them within the framework of law. He also indicated that machine-readable electoral rolls could result in breach of voters' privacy. Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfakes are indeed real challenges for us. Just yesterday, an X handle had shared an AI-generated video that was far from truth." "The Election Commission will try its best to tackle such challenges, but it can only operate within the framework of the law," the chief election commissioner said. On the opposition demand for machine-readable electoral rolls, Kumar said the Supreme Court has already given a judgment in this regard in 2019. "The Supreme Court has already said in 2019 that it can result in a breach of voters' privacy," he said. Kumar added that a few days ago, photos of several voters we

Rajiv Pratap Rudy wins BJP clash: What is Constitution Club, why it matters

Rajiv Pratap Rudy beat BJP rival Sanjeev Balyan in the Constitution Club polls; here is what the club is, why it matters and how this polls turned into a BJP vs BJP fight

Bangladesh to hold general elections in first week of Feb 2026: CEC

Bangladesh's poll body chief on Saturday said general elections would be held in the first week of February 2025 but ensuring it in a free, fair and impartial manner remained a major challenge. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, however said the exact date would be disclosed two months before the schedule was announced. People have lost confidence in the election system, the Election Commission and the administrative machinery involved in the electoral process, state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) quoted Uddin as saying at a function in northwestern Rangpur district. Uddin said his office, however, was working tirelessly to restore this lost trust. The CEC's comments come four days after interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced that the polls would be held in February next year. Yunus had made the announcement coinciding with the first anniversary of the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime on August 5. Uddin feared t

Could a Chandra Shekhar acolyte become India's next Vice President?

If elevated as Vice-President on September 9, Harivansh's career - shaped by his idol, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar - will acquire a new trajectory

Mamata asks officials to ensure no harassment during voter roll revision

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday directed officials to ensure that people are not harassed in the name of electoral roll revision, even as she accused the BJP of targeting not just religious minorities, but also the poor and other backward classes (OBCs). Chairing an administrative review meeting at Bolpur in Birbhum district, Banerjee announced that a dedicated scheme will be launched to assist the alleged persecuted Bengali migrants who have returned from other states amidst rising cases of harassment. "The scheme must include provisions to help them return safely, issue ration and job cards, and provide temporary shelters to those without a place to stay," the chief minister said. Banerjee said the alleged "persecution" of Bengali-speaking migrants in various states is a "deliberate" and "politically motivated" act. "Not just religious minorities, the poor and OBCs are being targeted by them (the BJP). We must stand beside all persecuted Bengali migrants," sh

Draft Bihar poll roll not final list, clarifies Election Commision

The Election Commission on Sunday hit out at those who, it claimed, were creating an impression that the draft voters' list to be published in Bihar will be the final roll. The poll authority said it is "not able to understand" that when a full one-month period from August 1 till September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusion or wrongful exclusion of any name, "why are they creating such a big fuss now?" The EC's statement came on the conclusion of the month-long phase one of Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters' list, where house-to-house surveys were held to distribute semi-filled enumeration forms to the electorate that were to be returned after being filled up. Enumeration forms from 7.24 crore electors have been received. The EC also said that 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted or were not found. It pointed out that seven lakh Bihar electors were found to have been enrolled at multiple places. "Why not ask their 1.6 lakh .

'Japanese First' party rises in election with anti-immigration, tax pitch

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito lost their majority in the upper house, leaving them further beholden to opposition support

Japan votes in key election as Prime Minister Ishiba faces possible loss

Japanese were voting Sunday for seats in the smaller of Japan's two parliamentary houses in a key election with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition facing a possible defeat that could worsen the country's political instability. Voters were deciding half of the 248 seats in the upper house, the less powerful of the two chambers in Japan's Diet. Early results were expected Sunday night. Ishiba has set the bar low, wanting a simple majority of 125 seats, which means his Liberal Democratic Party and its Buddhist-backed junior coalition partner Komeito need to win 50 to add to the 75 seats they already have. That is a big retreat from the 141 seats they had pre-election, but media surveys predict big setbacks for Ishiba. A poor performance on Sunday would not immediately trigger a change of government because the upper house lacks the power to file no-confidence against a leader, but it would certainly deepen uncertainty over his fate and Japan's political stability.

CEC Kumar thanks Bihar voters for cleaning up exercise of electoral roll

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar thanked the eligible voters of Bihar on Wednesday for their active participation in the "much-needed" cleaning of the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Kumar's remarks came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court hearing a clutch of pleas questioning the intent behind the SIR ahead of the Assembly polls in the state later this year. Opposition parties have asserted that the ongoing exercise will disfranchise crores of eligible Indian citizens for the want of citizenship documents. "I thank all eligible electors of Bihar for actively participating in the much-needed cleaning of the electoral rolls," the CEC told a group of booth-level officers during a training session here. Separately, the Election Commission said only 6.85 per cent of the 7.9 crore voters are yet to fill the enumeration forms under the SIR. "As on today, 6,99,92,926 of the existing electors have given their enumeration form to be included in

Petition in SC seeks electoral roll revision before every election

A plea in the Supreme Court has sought Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, particularly before parliamentary, state assembly and local body elections in the country. On Monday, the top court agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of petitions challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to undertake special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi on Tuesday asked the petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, who sought the matter's urgent listing along with the pending petitions opposing the election commission move, to iron out procedural defects before it could be listed for hearing. Upadhyay sought his plea to be heard on July 10, when the other pleas would be heard. His plea sought a direction to the Election Commission of India to conduct the SIR in order to ensure only Indian citizens decided the polity and policy "not the illegal foreign infiltrators". "Demography of 200 distric

Ex-CJIs endorse constitutionality of simultaneous poll but flag issues

Former chief justices of India, who have conveyed their views to a parliamentary committee on the bill proposing simultaneous polls, have endorsed the constitutionality of the one nation, one election concept but have raised concerns over its various aspects, including the power given to the Election Commission, and offered suggestions. Former CJI D Y Chandrachud, in his opinion submitted to the Joint Committee of Parliament, has dismissed the opposition's criticism that the synchronisation of Lok Sabha and state assembly polls violates the Constitution's basic structure, saying the Constitution never mandated holding national and state elections separately. However, he has joined another ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi in questioning the sweeping powers granted to the Election Commission in the proposed constitutional amendment law without laying down any guidelines for the exercise of the discretion, according to the opinion submitted to the parliamentary panel. Chandrachud and another former

Next elections to be 'most credible' in Bangladesh's history: Yunus' aide

The next general elections will be the "most credible and peaceful" in Bangladesh's history, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' aide has said, asserting that the interim government has taken all necessary measures to ensure free and fair polls. Yunus' Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam made the remarks on Saturday during an interaction with journalists in Khulna city, the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency reported. General elections in Bangladesh are scheduled for the first half of April next year, the chief adviser announced last month. Asserting that the polls will take place in a festive and peaceful environment, Alam said, "The upcoming national election will be the most credible and peaceful one in the country's history." He said that the primary goal of the mass uprising in July 2024, which ousted the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime, was to restore democracy in Bangladesh and added that the interim government has taken all necessary measures to ensure free a