Polity & Governance One Year Current Affairs Set 7 (UPSC 2020)

Table of Contents

Topics to discuss

Electoral Bonds
Delimitation Commission
Electronic Voting Machines
Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System
Association of World Election Bodies
Sections of Representation of the People Act
Postal Ballot

Q) With reference to the Electoral bond scheme, which of the following statements is/are correct?

These bonds can be bought from selected branches of State Bank of India only.
Interest will be given by the banks on the Electoral bonds.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

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Electoral bonds with denomination of Rs 1 crore accounted for more than 91 per cent of the amount raised.
The four cities, i.e. Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Hyderabad, accounted for 83 per cent of all electoral bonds by value

Electoral Bonds

Electoral Bond refers to a bond that has its specified face value, mentioned on it like a currency note. These bonds can be used by individuals, institutions, and organizations to donate money to political parties without revealing the name of the donor.
These electoral bonds will be available in the denomination of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lac, Rs. 10 lacs and Rs. 1 crore.
Central Government announced all guidelines related to electoral bonds in the Lok Sabha in January 2018.

Facts about electoral bonds

Any citizen or institution or any company in India can purchase electoral bonds to fund registered political parties.
These electoral bonds will be available in the denomination of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lac, Rs. 10 lacs and Rs. 1 crore.
Every party which is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 and has secured at least 1% votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be eligible to receive funds through electoral bonds.
Every donor has to provide his KYC detail to the banks.
The name of the electoral bond purchaser will be kept confidential by the
Electoral bonds will be valid for 15 days from the date of purchase.
No interest will be given by the banks on these bonds.
These bonds can be bought from selected branches of State Bank of India only.
Bonds can be purchased in January, April, July and October months of each
Political parties will also have to inform election commission that how much money they got from Electoral bonds.

Q) With reference to the ‘Delimitation Commission’, which of the following statements is/are correct?

The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the Prime Minister of India .
Law Secretary is the chairman of the Delimitation commission

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

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Commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Desai.
The appointed delimitation commission will do its work in the Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland

Term of reference of Delimitation commission

Delimitation will be done in Jammu and Kashmir based on the Census of 2011 in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
In Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland delimitation will be done in accordance with the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002.
Delimitation exercise for the purpose of elections to the Lok Sabha and to the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of 2001 census figures was completed by November,
However, this exercise was postponed in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland on apprehension of threat to the peace and public order.

Delimitation commission

Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.
Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census which establishes a delimitation commission.
Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census
In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002.
The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.

Composition of delimitation commission

The commission has three ex-officio members:
a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court as the chairperson,
the Chief Election Commissioner or Election Commissioner nominated by the CEC and
State Election Commissioner of the concerned state

Functions of delimitation commission

Determining the number and boundaries of constituencies to make population of all constituencies nearly equal and providing equal representation to equal segments of a population.
Identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, wherever their population is relatively large.
Its orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any
There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 censuses due to various family planning programs implemented by the central government.
In 2002, the 84th Constitutional Amendment was used to freeze the process of delimitation for Lok Sabha and State assemblies till at least 2026.

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EVMs

An EVM consists of a “control unit” and a “balloting unit”. The control unit is with the Election Commission-appointed polling officer; the balloting unit is in the voting compartment into where voter casts her vote in secret.
It runs on a single alkaline battery fitted in the control unit, and can even be used in areas that have no electricity

History of EVMs in India

EVMs were 1st used in 1982 Kerala Assembly elections (by-election).
However, SC struck down the election since Representation of People Act, 1951, and Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, did not allow use of EVMs.
RP Act 1951 was amended in 1988 to allow usage of EVMs.
In 1999, they were used for the 1st time in the entire state for Goa Legislative Assembly elections.
In 2004, EVMs were used for the 1st time in Lok Sabha elections

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Political parties Tracking Registration Tracking Management System(PPRTMS)

PPRTMS is an online portal to facilitate tracking of status of application
The portal is launched by Election Commission

Registration of political parties

The Election Commission registers political parties for the purpose of elections and grants them recognition as national or state parties on the basis of their poll performance
The other parties are simply declared as registered unrecognized parties
Registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

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Postal Ballot

It is a type of voting whereby Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers (ETPB) are distributed to electors and returned by post.
Person with disabilities (PwDs) and people over 80 years of age were allowed to cast their vote in Delhi Assembly Election through postal ballot
Service voters, have the option of either voting through postal ballot or through a proxy voter. It includes members of Armed Forces of the Union members of forces to which provisions of Army Act, 1950 applies. members of armed police force of a State and serving outside that state persons who are employed by GoI in a post outside India.
Under Section 62 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 prisoners are not allowed to vote but people under preventive detention can cast their votes through postal ballots.

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Association of World Election Bodies

It is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)
It was established in 2013 in South Korea.
Its Permanent secretariat is located at Seoul.
It aims at strengthening the processes of election management in member
It seeks to foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative elections worldwide and achieving sustainable
It also undertakes Election Visitor and Observation Programs in various countries to study various election management practices and share knowledge with other Member of EMBs.
The A-WEB Secretariat also undertakes Election Management Capacity Building Programs for the officials from Member EMBs.