Electoral Politics Class 9 Revision Notes: CBSE 9th Social Science Chapter 3, Download PDF Here

Electoral Politics Class 9 Notes: CBSE Class 9 Social Science revision notes for Chapter 3- Electoral Politics are available here. These notes are entirely according to the latest CBSE syllabus of Class 9 Social Science. Check these chapter notes for a quick revision of the chapter. 

CBSE Class 9 Social Science Electoral Politics Notes

Why Do We Need Elections?

• Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than one hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose people’s representatives. 
• Election is the mechanism by which people can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to do so.  Therefore, elections are considered essential in our times for any representative democracy. In an election the voters make many choices:
• They can choose who will make laws for them.
• They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions.
• They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law making.

What Makes An Election Democratic?

Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic countries hold elections. But most non-democratic countries also hold some kind of elections. A simple list of the minimum conditions of a democratic election:

• Everyone should be able to choose. This means that everyone should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.
• There should be something to choose from. Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.
• The choice should be offered at regular intervals. Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
• The candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
• Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.

What is the Indian System of Elections?

• Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections are held regularly after every five years. After five years the term of all the elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha stands ‘dissolved’. 
• Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a few days. This is called a general election. 
• Sometimes elections are held only for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member. This is called a by-election. 

Electoral Constituency 

• In our country we follow an area based system of representation. The country is divided into different areas for the purposes of elections. These areas are called electoral constituencies. The voters who live in an area elect one representative. 
• For Lok Sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 constituencies. The representative elected from each constituency is called a Member of Parliament or an MP. One of the features of a democratic election is that every vote should have equal value. 
• Similarly, each state is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected representative is called the Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA. Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies. Sometimes these constituencies are counted as ‘seats’, for each constituency represents one seat in the assembly. 
• The same principle applies for Panchayat and Municipal elections. Each village or town is divided into several ‘wards’ that are like constituencies. Each ward elects one member of the village or the urban local body.

Reserved Constituencies

• The makers of our Constitution thought of a special system of reserved constituencies for the weaker sections. Some constituencies are reserved for people who belong to the Scheduled Castes [SC] and Scheduled Tribes [ST].
• In a SC reserved constituency only someone who belongs to the Scheduled Castes can stand for election. Similarly only those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes can contest an election from a constituency reserved for ST. 
• Currently, in the Lok Sabha, 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 for the Scheduled Tribes (as on 26 January 2019). This number is in proportion to their share in the total population. Thus the reserved seats for SC and ST do not take away the legitimate share of any other social group.
• In many states, seats in rural (panchayat) and urban (municipalities and corporations) local bodies are now reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well. However, the proportion of seats reserved varies from state to state. Similarly, one-third of the seats are reserved in rural and urban local bodies for women candidates.

Voter’s List

• In a democratic election, the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before the election and given to everyone. This list is officially called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voters’ List.
• In our country, all the citizens aged 18 years and above can vote in an election. Every citizen has the right to vote, regardless of his or her caste, religion or gender. 
• Some criminals and persons with unsound mind can be denied the right to vote, but only in rare situations. 
• It is the responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on the voters’ list.
• A complete revision of the list takes place every five years. This is done to ensure that it remains up to date. In the last few years a new system of Election Photo Identity Card [EPIC] has been introduced.
• The government has tried to give this card to every person on the voters list. The voters are required to carry this card when they go out to vote, so that no one can vote for someone else. But the card is not yet compulsory for voting. For voting, the voters can show many other proofs of identity like the ration card or the driving licence.

Nomination of Candidates 

• Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections. The only difference is that in order to be a candidate the minimum age is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter. 
• There are some other restrictions on criminals etc. but these apply in very extreme cases.
• Political parties nominate their candidates who get the party symbol and support. Party’s nomination is often called a party ‘ticket’. 
• Every person who wishes to contest an election has to fill a ‘nomination form’ and give some money as ‘security deposit’.
• Recently, a new system of declaration has been introduced on direction from the Supreme Court. Every candidate has to make a legal declaration, giving full details of :
• Serious criminal cases pending against the candidate;
• Details of the assets and liabilities of the candidate and his or her family; and Educational qualifications of the candidate.
• This information has to be made public. This provides an opportunity to the voters to make their decision on the basis of the information provided by the candidates.

Election Campaign 

• In election campaigns, political parties try to focus public attention on some big issues. They want to attract the public to that issue and get them to vote for their party on that basis. 
• To ensure that every political party and candidate gets a fair and equal chance to compete. According to our election law, no party or candidate can:
• Bribe or threaten voters;
• Appeal to them in the name of caste or religion;
• Use government resources for election campaign; and
• Spend more than ` 25 lakh in a constituency for a Lok Sabha election or `10 lakh in a constituency in an Assembly election. 
• If they do so, their election can b rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected. In addition to the laws, all the political parties in our country have agreed to a Model Code of Conduct for election campaigns. According to this, no party or candidate can:
• Use any place of worship for election propaganda;
• Use government vehicles, aircrafts and officials for elections; and
• Once elections are announced, Ministers shall not lay foundation stones of any projects, take any big policy decisions or make any promises of providing public facilities. 

Polling and Counting of Votes 

• The final stage of an election is the day when the voters cast or ‘poll’ their vote. That day is usually called the election day.
• Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed. 
• Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols. Independent candidates too have their own symbols, allotted by the election commission. All that the voter has to do is to press the button against the name of the candidate she wants to give her vote.
• Once the polling is over, all the EVMs are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on a fixed date, all the EVMs from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted.

What makes elections in India democratic?

• Independent Election Commission: In our country elections are conducted by an independent and very powerful Election Commission (EC). It enjoys the same kind of independence that the judiciary enjoys. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is appointed by the President of India. But once appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner is not answerable to the President or the government. Powers of the Election Commission of India are: 
• EC takes decisions on every aspect of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to the declaration of results.
• It implements the Code of Conduct and punishes any candidate or party that violates it.
• During the election period, the EC can order the government to follow some guidelines, to prevent use and misuse of governmental power to enhance its chances to win elections, or to transfer some government officials.
• When on election duty, government officers work under the control of the EC and not the government.
• Popular Participation: Another way to check the quality of the election process is to see whether people participate in it with enthusiasm. If the election process is not free or fair, people will not continue to participate in the exercise.
• Acceptance of Election Outcome: One final test of the free and fairness of election has in the outcome itself. If elections are not free or fair, the outcome always favours the powerful.

Challenges to Free and Fair Elections 

The limitations and challenges of Indian elections are: 

• Candidates and parties with a lot of money may not be sure of their victory but they do enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independents.
• In some parts of the country, candidates with criminal connections have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ‘ticket’ from major parties.
• Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
• Very often elections offer little choice to ordinary citizens, for both the major parties are quite similar to each other both in policies and practice.
• Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.

These challenges exist not just in India but also in many established democracies. These deeper issues are a matter of concern for those who believe in democracy. That is why citizens, social activists and organisations have been demanding reforms in our electoral system.

View and download the complete pdf of CBSE Class 9 Social Science Chapter-3 Revision Notes by using the link given below:

Also Check:

Constitutional Design Class 9 Notes: CBSE 9th Social Science Chapter 2, Download PDF Here

Working of Institutions Class 9 Notes: CBSE 9th Social Science Chapter 4, Download PDF Here