Elections - Key Vocabulary and Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the textbook notes on Elections, covering core concepts, electoral systems, legislation, constitutional bodies, and digital tools.

Direct Elections

Elections in which citizens vote directly to choose their representatives or leaders, such as elections for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha.

Indirect Elections

Elections in which citizens vote for representatives who subsequently choose or elect leaders, such as the elections for President, Vice President, and Rajya Sabha members.

Psephology

The scientific study of elections, derived from the Greek word psēphos (meaning 'pebble') and logy (meaning 'systematic study').

First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) System

A plurality electoral system where each voter votes for one candidate in their constituency, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they receive less than $50\%$ of the total votes cast.

Proportional Representation (PR) System

An electoral system where voters cast votes for a political party rather than an individual person, and parliamentary seats are allotted in proportion to the total votes received by each party.

Majority System

An electoral system where a candidate must receive more than $50\%$ of the votes to win; if no candidate achieves this threshold, the top two candidates compete in a second-round runoff.

Bicameral Structure

A state legislative structure consisting of two houses: an Upper House (Vidhan Parishad / Legislative Council) and a Lower House (Vidhan Sabha / Legislative Assembly).

Vidhan Sabha

The directly elected Legislative Assembly (Lower House) at the state level that formulates laws for its respective State or Union Territory.

Vidhan Parishad

The Legislative Council (Upper House) existing in six Indian states—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh—elected via proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

Single Transferable Vote (STV) Quota

The minimum number of votes required for a candidate to be declared elected under the STV system, calculated as: $\text{Quota} = \left[ \frac{\text{Total valid votes}}{\text{Seats to be filled} + 1} \right] + 1$.

Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA, 1950)

Parliamentary legislation dealing primarily with seat allocation, delimitation of constituencies, preparation/revision of electoral rolls, and ensuring universal voting rights for citizens aged $18$ and above.

Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA, 1951)

Parliamentary legislation governing election conduct, nomination rules, campaign guidelines, voting procedures, dispute resolution, corrupt practices, and electoral offences.

Delimitation

The process of determining the number of seats and fixing territorial constituency boundaries in each state for elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha based on population shifts.

Delimitation Commission

An independent body established under Article $82$ of the Constitution of India responsible for adjusting parliamentary and assembly constituency boundaries.

Election Commission of India (ECI)

An autonomous permanent constitutional body established on $25\text{ January } 1950$ under Articles $324$ to $329$, vested with the superintendence, direction, and control of all elections in India.

Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

An ECI exercise to update, verify, and correct electoral rolls by adding eligible new voters (aged $18$ and above) and removing entries due to death, relocation, duplicate enrolment, or untraceability.

ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System)

A technology system developed for Service Voters to electronically receive and cast postal ballots from outside their assigned voting constituency.

Service Voters

Voters, such as armed forces personnel or government employees posted away from home, who are permitted to cast votes from outside their native constituency using ETPBS.

cVIGIL App

A mobile application developed by the ECI enabling citizens to report Model Code of Conduct violations and electoral misconduct in real time.

ERONET

An ECI web-based platform facilitating seamless form processing, role-based access, simplified dashboards, and database management for electoral rolls.

Sugam

An ECI web-based application designed for tracking and managing vehicles requisitioned from various government departments for election duties.

Suvidha

An ECI application for contesting candidates and political parties to submit nomination forms and request campaign permissions (for rallies, vehicles, loudspeakers, etc.) in real time.

Saksham App

A specialized ECI mobile application providing customized services to assist Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in voter registration, locating polling stations, and accessing accessibility features.

Defection

The act of an elected representative abandoning or switching allegiance from the political party under whose ticket and banner they were originally elected.

Anti-Defection Law

A law enacted in $1985$ via the $52\text{nd}$ Constitutional Amendment Act to disqualify MPs or MLAs from legislative membership if they voluntarily relinquish party membership or vote against party instructions (whip).

Recognised National Party

A political party recognized by the ECI based on specific performance criteria, such as securing at least $6\%$ of valid votes in four or more states plus $4$ Lok Sabha seats, or winning $2\%$ of Lok Sabha seats across three states.

Registered Unrecognised Political Party (RUPP)

Newly registered political parties or those that have not secured the required vote percentage in general or assembly elections, or have never contested elections since registration.

International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP)

A flagship ECI initiative designed for international cooperation, knowledge sharing, and engagement with Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.