Electoral Transparency in India – Significance & Challenges – Explained Pointwise

Recently, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha raised objection about the conduct of elections in the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. He also questioned the process of appointing the Election Commissioners as the Union Govt refused to implement the SC’s judgment to include Chief Justice of India in the selection process. Earlier also, different political parties have raised objection about the EVMs. This makes it important to discuss the significance, challenges, various initiatives & way forward related to Electoral Transparency in India.

What is electoral transparency?

Electoral transparency refers to the openness, clarity, and accessibility of all processes, information, and funding related to elections, ensuring that citizens, stakeholders, and oversight bodies can scrutinize and trust the integrity of the electoral system. It is a cornerstone of democratic governance, as it enables public oversight, reduces opportunities for corruption, and upholds the legitimacy of electoral outcomes.

What is the significance of electoral transparency?

1. Builds Public Trust and Legitimacy: When the electoral process is open to scrutiny, it instills confidence in voters, candidates, and political parties. This trust is fundamental for the legitimacy of the elected government and the stability of the democratic system.

2. Ensures Accountability: Transparency holds election management bodies (like the Election Commission of India ), political parties, and candidates accountable for their actions. It makes it harder for malpractices to occur unnoticed. For example: Public disclosure of election expenditure by candidates and parties allows citizens and watchdog organizations to monitor spending and identify potential violations of cap on election expenditure.

3. Reduces Fraud and Malpractice: Open procedures and clear guidelines minimize opportunities for electoral fraud, rigging, and manipulation. When processes are transparent, fraudulent activities are more likely to be detected and deterred. For example: The presence of polling agents from various political parties at polling stations and during vote counting, along with videography, serves as a deterrent to booth capturing, bogus voting, and tampering.

4. Promotes Informed Decision-Making by Voters: Transparency ensures that voters have access to crucial information, such as candidate backgrounds (including criminal antecedents), sources of political funding, and party manifestos. This allows them to make informed choices. For example: The mandatory disclosure of assets and liabilities of candidates, enforced by the ECI, helps voters assess the financial standing and potential conflicts of interest of those seeking office.

5. Enhances Participation: When voters perceive the electoral process as fair and transparent, they are more likely to participate actively, whether by registering to vote, casting their ballot, or engaging in political discourse. A sense of fairness encourages civic engagement. For example: Easily accessible and regularly updated voter rolls, available for public inspection, allow citizens to verify their inclusion and encourage new voter registration.

6. Safeguards Fundamental Rights: Electoral transparency aligns with fundamental rights such as the right to information (Article 19(1)(a)) and the right to vote. Without transparency, these rights can be undermined. For example: The Supreme Court’s verdict striking down the Electoral Bond Scheme underscored the public’s right to know the sources of political funding, reinforcing the importance of transparency for informed voting.

What are various issues related to electoral transparency in India?

1. Political Funding Transparency: Lack of transparency in the sources of political funding. Anonymous donations make it difficult for citizens to know who is funding political parties, raising concerns about quid pro quo arrangements and corporate influence. The government introduced Electoral Bond scheme, in 2017, to enhance the transparency in political funding. While the government argued it would curb black money by routing donations through formal banking channels, critics (including the Election Commission itself) argued it enhanced opacity. Opaque funding erodes public trust, fosters crony capitalism, and can distort policy-making in favor of anonymous donors rather than public interest.

2. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs): Opposition leaders have frequently described EVMs as “black boxes” because voters cannot independently verify if their vote was accurately recorded and counted as intended by the machine itself. They argue that the internal workings are not sufficiently transparent. The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system was introduced to address this by allowing voters to see a paper slip of their vote. However, the ECI currently mandates counting VVPAT slips from only five randomly selected EVMs per assembly constituency/segment. The opposition political parties are demanding 100% VVPAT verification with EVM count.

3. Accuracy and Transparency of Electoral Rolls: 

• Duplicate Entries: Reports of individuals having multiple entries in the voter list, sometimes across different constituencies or even states, raise concerns about potential fraudulent voting.
• Deletion of Genuine Voters: Conversely, many genuine voters, especially migrant workers or those from marginalized communities, find their names missing from the rolls, leading to disenfranchisement.
• Aadhaar Linkage Controversy: While the Election Commission sought to link Aadhaar with voter IDs to de-duplicate the rolls, concerns were raised about the voluntary nature of the linkage potentially becoming implicitly mandatory, leading to exclusion due to authentication failures or privacy risks.
• Abnormal increase in number of voters listed in electoral rolls between the elections: The LoP raised the issue of abnormal increase in the number of voters between general election & Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The independent investigation has revealed that nearly 4 million new voters were added in just 6 months.

4. Transparency in the Appointment of Election Commissioners: The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, changed the selection committee. Previously, a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 had suggested a collegium including the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of Opposition. The new Act replaced the CJI with a Union Cabinet Minister. This has raised concerns that the government will have a majority in the selection committee, potentially impacting the perceived independence of the ECI.

5. Restrictive access to CCTV footage of the polling process: The LoP has also raised the objection that the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 were recently amended to restrict the access to CCTV footage of the polling process. Providing access to the CCTV footage to the nominees of the political parties is important to scrutinize the complaints.

What have been the various initiatives to enhance electoral transparency?

1. Disclosure of Candidate’s Assets and Liabilities: Following the Supreme Court’s judgment (e.g., Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, 2002), the ECI mandated that all contesting candidates file an affidavit disclosing their criminal antecedents, financial assets, liabilities, and educational qualifications.

2. Supreme Court’s Ruling on Electoral Bonds: Supreme Court, in its judgment in February 2024, struck down the Electoral Bond scheme as unconstitutional. It directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose all details of electoral bonds purchased and redeemed to the ECI, which then published this data.

3. First Level Checking (FLC) of EVMs/VVPATs: Before every election, EVMs and VVPATs undergo a thorough “First Level Checking” by engineers of the manufacturing PSUs (BEL and ECIL) in the presence of representatives of political parties. This process allows political parties to inspect the machines and verify their integrity before deployment, ensuring transparency at a critical stage.

4. Electoral Roll Management through ERO Net: The ECI launched ERO Net, an online platform that automates the process of electoral roll management, including registration, field verification, and decision support for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). It aims to minimize errors, prevent duplicate entries, and make the process of voter registration and modification more transparent and efficient.

5. Four Qualifying Dates for Electoral Roll Enrolment: Recent amendments allow citizens turning 18 years on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, or 1st October to file claims for enrolment, rather than just 1st January. This ensures continuous and more inclusive enrolment, making the electoral roll more representative and transparent.

6. cVIGIL App: The cVIGIL mobile application allows citizens to report Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations and expenditure-related infractions directly to the ECI with geo-tagged photos/videos. The ECI promises action within 100 minutes. It empowers citizens to be vigilant, provides real-time reporting of violations, and ensures quick response from election authorities, making the enforcement of MCC more transparent and effective.

What can be the way forward?

1. Bring Political Parties under RTI: A long-standing demand is to bring all political parties, especially those receiving public funding or significant public interest, under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This would allow citizens to seek information about their finances, including donations and expenditures.

2. Lower Anonymous Donation Threshold: Reduce the threshold for anonymous cash donations significantly, ideally to zero, or at least below the current ₹20,000. All donations, regardless of amount, should be made through traceable digital means (cheque, bank transfer, digital payment).

3. Increased VVPAT Verification: A scientifically determined, statistically robust sample size for VVPAT counting should be adopted to ensure a higher degree of confidence in the EVM results. In case of any discrepancy, a full manual counting of VVPAT slips in the affected constituency should be immediately triggered.

4. Real-time Online Updates with Transparency: Make the electoral roll update process more dynamic, allowing for real-time online updates. Ensure that all additions, deletions, and modifications to the electoral roll are published transparently and immediately, allowing for public scrutiny and objections.

5. Publish Voter Rolls and Turnout Data Promptly: The Election Commission should release consolidated, digital, and machine-readable electoral rolls and real-time voter turnout data for all elections. This includes making Form 17C data and CCTV footage from polling booths publicly available to address concerns about discrepancies and build confidence in the process.

6. Access for Observers: Ensure that domestic and international observers, as well as party agents, have unhindered access to polling and counting centers to monitor the process.

Conclusion:
The onus lies on ECI to enhance transparency in the electoral process & strengthen the trust of the voters on the process of electing their representatives through a free & fair elections.