List of Chief Election Commissioners of India

Chief Election Commissioners of India is one of the important topics in Static General Knowledge.

CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS OF INDIA

What is Election Commission of India?

Election Commission of India

The Constitution under Article 324 provides for an election commission for the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for the conduct of elections to parliament, state legislatures and to the officers of the president and vice president.
The election commission is responsible for both the centers and the state’s elections.

Composition and Appointments

The body is comprised of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
The President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners.
The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since 1993, before that the commission only had a Chief Election Commissioner.
The Election Commissioner is assisted by the Deputy Election Commissioner at the time of the election.

Salary

They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
The salary is drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India.

Tenure

They have a tenure of 6 years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

Key Functions and Powers of Election Commission of India

Division of constituencies.
Preparing up-to-date lists of all valid voters.
Determine territories of the electoral constituencies and allot seats to each of them.
Recognition of political parties and party symbol allocation.
Notify dates and schedules of elections.
To fix Code of Conduct which must be observed at the time of the election.
Scrutiny of Nomination Papers.
Determine the number of polling booths required.
Fix and limit the election expenses.
Conduct and supervise elections and by-elections.
Scrutinize election expenses accounts submitted by the contestants.
Declare the election results.
Settle down disputes referred by the President.
Advising the President on the question of disqualification of any Member of Parliament or advising the Governor on the question of disqualification of a member of a State legislature.

Removal

The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament.

New Initiatives and Reforms

The Commission has brought several reforms in the electoral processes. A few are summarized below

Facility of use of state-owned Electronic Media for broadcast/telecast by political parties.
Checking criminalization of politics.
Computerization of electoral rolls.
Providing voters with Identity Cards.
Simplifying the accounts maintenance and filling procedures by candidates.
A variety of measures for strict compliance of Model Code of Conduct to conduct fair elections.
“None of the above” button: In 2013, SC passed a landmark judgment, approving the ‘Right to Negative Vote’ by exercising the NOTA option in EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and ballots. The NOTA option has been in use since November 2013.