US Federal Election Commission Vs Indian Election commission

Context: Comparison between Indian U.S. Federal Election Commission and Indian Election commission

What are the Issues pertaining to the functions of U.S. Federal Election Commission?

Vacancies:

• The Commission has hardly been able to function in the last year because of resignations.
• The Commission haven’t passed a single order since August 2019, owing to lack of quorum, for which at least four members are needed.
• As a result, several hundred matters lie pending before the Federal Election Commission.

Lack of consensus:

• The six posts of Commissioner are supposed to be equally shared by Democrats and Republicans.
• This has created a situation where decision making was often divided on partisan lines.

Powerless:

• During the recent Presidential election, when there are allegations over election process the President decided to appeal only to the U.S. Supreme Court without any reference to the Federal Election Commission.

How different is U.S. Federal Election Commission compared to Indian Election commission?

• Origin: The Federal Election Commission was established recently in 1975, with the special mandate to regulate campaign finance issues. Whereas Election commission of India came in to force on 25th January 1950.
• Members: The Federal Election Commission is led by six Commissioners. Whereas Indian Election commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• Scope: Federal Election Commission has a much narrower mandate than its Indian equivalent. In India, by virtue of being the custodian of the electoral roll, all matters related to keeping the roll updated, fall under the ECI’s domain and ECI enjoys enormous power.
• Role of Judiciary: In India the role of the judiciary is limited post the election period. Our constitutional makers were clear that if election-related petitions were entertained during the course of the election process, it would impede the process and delay election results.
• Scope of Postal ballot: In the 2016 U.S. election, almost a quarter of the votes counted arose from postal ballots. In India we have confined postal ballots to only a few categories, of largely government staff, the police or armed forces.

Ever since our first election in 1951-2 our political parties, both losers and winners, have invariably accepted the results declared by the Election Commission of India, allowing the transfer of power  to be passed on in a smooth manner.

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