Experts have designed these Class 9 SST Notes and NCERT Class 9 SST Chapter 7 Elections Notes for effective learning.
Class 9 Elections Notes
Class 9 SST Chapter 7 Elections Notes
Class 9 SST Chapter 7 Notes – Elections Notes Class 9
Why Do Elections Matter?
Meaning of Elections
An election is the process through which citizens choose their representatives who make decisions and laws on their behalf. It is one of the most important features of democracy.
Why are elections important?
- They give people the right to choose their government.
- They make representatives accountable to the people.
- They allow citizens to remove an unpopular or unethical government.
- They ensure peaceful transfer of power.
- They encourage public participation and a transparent government system in democracy.
Direct Elections
Through direct elections, people directly vote for their representatives.
Examples:
- Lok Sabha
- Vidhan Sabha
- Panchayats
- Municipal Corporations
Indirect Elections
In indirect elections people elect representatives, who then elect certain constitutional posts.
Examples:
- President
- Vice-President
- Rajya Sabha Members
Regular and periodic elections are held every five years to renew the people’s mandate.
Elections provide
- Representation: People choose leaders who represent their interests.
- Equality: Every eligible citizen (aged 18 or above) gets one vote of equal value.
- Accountability: Leaders remain responsible to the people because they must face elections again.
- Legitimacy : An elected government gains legal and moral authority to govern.
- Public Participation: Citizens actively participate in governing the country through voting.
- Peaceful Change of Government: Governments can change through elections instead of violence.
Psephology
Scientific study of elections.
Derived from Greek word Psephos, meaning pebble, because ancient Greeks voted using pebbles.
Inside India’S Election Machinery
Conducting elections in India is difficult because:
- Huge population
- Large geographical area
- Diverse languages and cultures
- Millions of voters
- Thousands of constituencies
The election process is managed by:
- Election Commission of India (ECI)
- Political parties
- Voters
- Civil society
- Media
The Constitution and various election laws ensure elections remain:
- Free
- Fair
- Transparent
The Electoral System
An electoral system decides how votes are converted into seats. India mainly uses the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system.
First-Past-The-Post (FPTP)
- Candidate receiving the highest number of votes wins.
- More than 50% votes are not necessary.
- Used in:
- Lok Sabha
- Vidhan Sabha
Examples:
Candidate A = 40%
Candidate B = 35%
Candidate C = 25%
Candidate A wins despite not getting an absolute majority.
Proportional Representation (PR)
This system is used in India to elect:
- President
- Rajya Sabha
- Vice-President
To win the election, a candidate must get a specific minimum number of votes called the Quota.
Quota = \(\left[\frac{\text { Total valid votes }}{\text { Seats to be filled }+1}\right]\) = Minimum votes to win
Voters rank candidates in order of preference (1 st choice, 2nd choice, etc) instead of voting for just one person.
First-preference votes are counted and anyone reaching the quota is elected.
The candidates with fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are shifted to the next preferred candidates on those slips. This process repeats untill all seats are fdled.
Vidhan Sabha
Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) is a body directly elected by the people to make laws for states and some union Territories.
Bicameral structure (Two Houses in States): Most states have only one house, but six states in India have a bicameral structure, meaning they have two houses.
These six states are: Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana.
Vidhan Parishad (The Upper House or Legislative Council)
Members are elected by:
- Local bodies
- Graduates
- Teachers
- Members of Vidhan Sabha
Some members from fields like art, science and social service are nominated by the Governor.
Different Electoral Systems
1. First-Past-The-Post (FPTP)
- Highest votes win.
- No majority needed.
2. Majority System
- Candidate must receive more than 50% votes.
- If nobody gets 50%, another round is held.
3. Proportional Representation
- Parties receive seats according to vote percentage.
- Gives better representation to smaller parties.
Single Transferable Vote (STV)
Used in some indirect elections.
Steps
- Voters rank candidates in order of preference.
- A minimum quota is fixed.
- Candidates crossing the quota are declared elected.
- Lowest candidate is eliminated.
- Their votes are transferred according to second preference.
- Process continues until all seats are filled.
Advantage
It reduces the wastage of votes.
Different Electoral Systems
The Laws
The conduct of elections in India is mainly governed by the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952.
The Representation of the People Act, 1950 deals with the allocation of seats, delimitation of constituencies, preparation and revision of electoral rolls, and ensures that every Indian citizen above 18 years of age has the right to vote without discrimination.
The Representation of the People Act, 1951 lays down detailed rules regarding the conduct of elections. It covers the nomination of candidates, election campaigns, voting procedures, counting of votes, and settlement of election disputes.
It also identifies corrupt electoral practices such as bribing voters with gifts or money, appealing for votes on the basis of religion, caste, race, or language, and taking assistance from government officials for election campaigning.
These laws help maintain honesty, transparency, and accountability in elections.
Delimitation Commission
Population changes over time, so constituency boundaries cannot remain the same forever. The Delimitation Commission redraws the boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies according to changes in population.
This ensures that every constituency has nearly equal population and every citizen receives equal representation in the legislature. India has had Delimitation Commissions in 1952,1963, 1973, and 2002.
Election Commission of India (ECI)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an independent and permanent constitutional body established on 25 January 1950 under Articles 324-329 of the Constitution.
It is responsible for conducting elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice-President.
At the state level, election work is supervised by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) along with other election officials.
ECI Creates the Electoral Roll
- One of the most important functions of the ECI is preparing and maintaining the electoral roll.
- Officials visit households to collect voter information, verify details, add the names of newly eligible voters, and remove the names of deceased, shifted, or duplicate voters.
- This ensures that only eligible citizens can vote.
- Only individuals whose names are written in this official voter list are permitted to cast their votes.
- The ECI carries out a process called Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to update, verify, and correct these voter lists.
- This revision adds new voters, especially 18-year-olds who might miss out due to lack of awareness, and removes names due to death, change of address, or duplicate entries.
- People are given time to raise objections or make claims, which the ECI resolves before releasing the final voter list.
ECI Decides the Schedule and Date for the Election
The ECI also decides the schedule of elections after considering factors such as weather conditions, agricultural activities, school and university examinations, and festivals. It registers political parties, allots election symbols, recognises national and state parties, and resolves disputes related to party recognition and symbols.
ECI Registers Political Parties and Allocates Symbols
- Only political parties that are officially registered with the ECI are allowed to take part in elections. People who do not belong to any political party can also stand for elections as independent candidates.
- The ECI makes sure there is democracy within parties by requiring them to hold internal elections regularly.
- The ECI divides political parties into categories like recognized national parties, state parties, or unrecognised parties, and gives symbols to national and state parties.
The ECI functions like a court to solve disputes related to party recognition and the distribution of election symbols.
National Voters’ Day And Free & Fair Elections
Every year, 25 January is celebrated as National Voters’ Day to encourage citizens to participate in elections and strengthen democracy. Citizens take a pledge to uphold democratic values and vote without V being influenced by religion, caste, race, language, or any form of inducement.
Ensuring Free and Fair Elections
- The ECI works continuously to ensure that elections are free, fair, transparent, inclusive, and trustworthy.
- Free and fair elections increase public confidence in democracy, while unfair practices such as bribery, intimidation, or inaccurate vote counting weaken democratic values.
Inclusive Elections
- The Election Commission has introduced several measures to make elections accessible to everyone. It provides facilities for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), senior citizens, transgender persons, and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
- In the 2024 General Elections, home voting was extended across India for citizens aged 85 years and above and for persons with 40% or more benchmark disability, making the electoral process more inclusive and accessible.
Integrated Digital Platforms for Electoral Services and Voter Engagement
Electoral Officials
- ERONET is a system that allows smooth processing of voter forms and easy management of voter databases.
- It helps officials by providing simple dashboards, specific role-based access, and a proper way to maintain electoral rolls.
- Sugam is a web-based application used to manage vehicles that are taken from other government departments for election duties.
- This application stores all information regarding department details, vehicle registration numbers, driver contact details, and regular fuel distribution.
Candidates
- Suvidha is a dedicated application designed for political parties and candidates who are contesting elections.
- Candidates can use this platform to access all fonns and updates related to their official nominations. The app also allows candidates to request pennissions for election rallies, public meetings, vehicles, or loudspeakers, and track the status of these requests in real time.
Voters
ETPBS stands for Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System, and it is built specifically for service voters. It enables these service voters to receive and submit their postal votes electronically from locations outside their home constituencies.
The Voter Helpline App is a multipurpose application that helps citizens with voter registration, changing addresses, and verification.
Voters can also use this application to find general election details, news, and official updates.
The Saksham App is created by the Election Commission of India to provide customized services for persons with disabilities.
It features special tools that help disabled citizens register to vote, locate their polling stations, and access other specific facilities.
The c VIGIL App allows citizens to report any violations of the Model Code of Conduct or election misconduct immediately.
Flying squads use the automatic location tracking from the app to reach the reported spot quickly and take necessary action.
No Voter to Be Left Behind
- The voting process in India is completely unique and unmatched globally, involving more than 96.8 crore voters living across different geographical areas.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) functions independently to conduct honest and fair voting across the entire country.
- The ECI depends heavily on modem communication technology and e-govemance to handle tasks like modifying voter records, managing candidate entries, controlling campaigns, and maintaining security.
- Technology also helps the ECI coordinate between states, manage the counting of votes, announce official outcomes, and resolve legal disagreements.
- The ECI has introduced multiple new steps to ensure that the entire election system includes all sections of society.
The International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP)
- The International Election Visitors’ Programme is a major initiative by the Election Commission of India to cooperate and engage with election management groups of other nations and international bodies.
- The ECI has signed official agreements with 28 international election management bodies to promote mutual cooperation.
- The ECI has also signed agreements with three global organizations, which are the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the United Nations.
Political Parties
Political parties act as crucial bridges at the grassroots level in a democratic system.
They help citizens learn about key issues, candidate platforms, and development visions, while organising public opinion and offering meaningful electoral choices.
The Multi-Party System & Roles: India features a multi-party system reflecting its vast regional, linguistic, and religious diversity. Parties compete to form the winning party (which forms the government and implements policies) or act as the opposition party (which ensures government accountability and participates in legislative debates).
Defection and the Anti-Defection Law: “Defection” occurs when an elected candidate abandons or switches their party. To counter political opportunism and promote stability, the Anti¬Defection Law (52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985) was introduced. It allows the Speaker or Chairman of the House to disqualify members who voluntarily leave their party or vote against party instructions.
The Anti-Defection Law
- In India, this law was passed in 1985 through the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act to bring stability to elected governments by stopping political defections.
- A lawmaker can be disqualified from the Parliament or State Assembly if they leave their party voluntarily or vote against party instructions.
- The Speaker or the Chairman of the House has the power to make the final decision regarding such disqualifications.
Criteria for National and State Party Recognition
Recognition Criteria: The Election Commission of India registers parties under specific performance metrics: National Party
Recognition: Requires securing > 6% of valid votes in four or more states in Lok Sabha/ Assembly elections plus winning 4 Lok Sabha seats, or winning > 2% of Lok Sabha seats from at least three states, or being recognized as a State Party in at least four states.
State Party Recognition: Requires fulfilling conditions based on specific vote shares (e.g., > 6% or > 8% of valid votes) and seat thresholds won in state or general elections.
Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP): Parties that have not secured enough vote percentages or have never contested an election since registration.
Challenges To Free And Fair Elections
- Conducting elections in India for a massive voter base (over 96.8 crore voters in 2024) across diverse socio-economic realities poses immense hurdles.
- Key Roadblocks: Major obstacles include misinformation, fake news, voter intimidation, and corruption.
- Countermeasures: To keep democracy robust and representative, the Election Commission of India (ECI) addresses these challenges through legal and technological frameworks including the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1950 and 1951, the Model Code of Conduct, EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines), and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) systems.
Conclusion
The Chapter concludes that elections are the core of a democratic society, ensuring representation, accountability, and equality by allowing citizens to fulfill their civic duty and exercise their constitutional right to vote.
Through structured frameworks like the First-Past-The-Post system, the foundational support of the Representation of the People Acts (1950 and 1951), and the mediation of political parties, public opinion is effectively converted into governance.
While immense challenges such as misinformation, fake news, and voter intimidation threaten the electoral process, the chapter highlights that the autonomous oversight of the Election Commission of India (ECI) combined with continuous legal safeguards, technology-driven inclusion, and vigilant citizen participation is essential to maintaining a free, fair, and robust democracy.
Elections Class 9 Short Notes
→ Accountability: The democratic principle where elected representatives remain answerable to the citizens for their decisions and actions.
→ Anti-Defection Law: A law passed in 1985 via the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act to provide stability to the government by disqualifying members who switch parties or defy instructions of their party.
→ Bicameral Structure: A legislative system consisting of two distinct houses, namely the Upper House (Vidhan Parishad) and the Lower House (Vidhan Sabha).
→ Chief Electoral Officer: A civil servant appointed by the ECI in consultation with the State Government to supervise election work at the state level.
→ Constituency: A designated territorial area mapped according to population density from which a representative is elected to a legislative body.
→ Corrupt Practices: Prohibited electoral offences listed under the RPA 1951, such as offering gifts, inducing voters, or seeking assistance from government personnel.
→ Defection: The act of an elected representative abandoning or switching from the political party under whose banner they were elected.
→ Delimitation: The legal process of determining the number of seats and fixing territorial boundaries for constituencies to ensure equal population representation.
→ Delimitation Commission: A body established under Article 82 of the Constitution tasked with periodically updating constituency boundaries.
→ Direct Elections: Geographical fields or natural resources like soil, forests, water, air, minerals, oil etc. are called land.
→ Election: A legal process through which citizens exercise their right to vote and fulfill their democratic responsibility.
→ Election Commission of India (ECI): An autonomous permanent constitutional body established on 25 January 1950, vested with the control and direction of India’s elections.
→ Electoral Rolls: Polling station-wise lists compiled and updated by the ECI that contain the names of all eligible citizens permitted to vote.
→ Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS): A digital system that enables registered service voters to securely receive and cast their votes from outside their constituency.
→ Equality: The democratic value ensuring that every citizen has an equal voice and an identical weight to their vote in forming a government.
→ EVM (Electronic Voting Machine): A technological tool used to record votes electronically, designed to make voting secure and accessible.
→ First-Past-The-Post (FPTP): A plurality system where the candidate who secures the most votes in a constituency wins the seat, even if they do not secure a majority.
→ Independent Candidates: Contestants standing for a public office who are not affiliated with any registered political party.
→ Indirect Elections: An electoral system where citizens elect representatives who then vote to choose the final leaders.
→ International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP): A flagship program run by the ECI to foster international cooperation with electoral management bodies of other nations.
→ Legitimacy: The popular acceptance and legal authority granted to a government, which is established through the process of periodic elections.
→ Model Code of Conduct: A set of regulatory guidelines and behavioral rules issued by the ECI to ensure fair play by candidates and parties during campaigns.
→ Multi-Party System: A system featuring multiple political parties that compete in elections, reflecting regional, cultural, and religious diversity.
→ Opposition Party: The non-governing party or alliance that secures seats in the legislature and functions to ensure accountability by debating policies.
→ Political Opportunism: Actions taken out of self-interest, such as defecting from a party, that undermine political stability and party discipline.
→ Political Parties: Voluntary organisations working at the grassroots level that organise public opinion, frame development manifestos, and contest elections.
→ Proportional Representation (PR): An electoral system where legislative seats are allocated to political parties in proportion to the total percentage of votes they receive.
→ Psephology: The scientific and systematic study of elections and voting trends, derived from the Greek word for “pebble”.
→ Representation: The mechanism by which elected officials act and speak on behalf of their voting citizens in legislative bodies.
→ Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA 1950) : A piece of legislation dealing with the allocation of seats, delimitation of boundaries, and the creation of electoral rolls.
→ Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA 1951) : A law governing the actual conduct of elections, detailing candidate nominations, campaigns, and dispute resolutions.
→ Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT): An independent verification system attached to EVMs that allows voters to visually confirm that their vote was cast correctly.