Election Comission

Polling for Sohiong Assembly constituency of Meghalaya in the Feb 27 state elections has been postponed following demise of state's former Home minister and UDP candidate from the seat, HDR Lyngdoh

The Election Commission (EC) should wait for its decision on the original Shiv Sena party symbol until the Supreme Court gives its order on the disqualification of rebel MLAs

India has witnessed a nearly six-fold increase in the total number of voters since 1951 to over 94.50 crore this year, but almost one-third of them stayed away from exercising their franchise in the last Lok Sabha polls. This has prompted the Election Commission to walk the extra mile to bring them to the polling booths. In 1951, when the voter lists for the first general elections were prepared, India had 17.32 crore registered electors and 45.67 per cent had turned up to exercise their franchise in the newly-born Republic. The number of registered electors witnessed a gradual increase over the years, and so did their participation in the subsequent elections. In the 1957 general elections, the number of registered electors was 19.37 crore and 47.74 per cent cast their ballots to send their representatives to the Lok Sabha. Amid talks of taking the voter turnout to 75 per cent, the Election Commission has flagged the issue of the 30 crore voters who did not turn up at the polling

Election officials in Meghalaya seized over Rs 8 lakh cash and alcohol in West Garo Hills district, Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor said on Friday. Election to the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly is scheduled for February 27 and the model code of conduct is in force in the state. "Unaccounted cash of Rs 8.96 lakh and alcohol worth over Rs 8,000 were seized in West Garo Hills district on Thursday," Kharkongor told PTI. With this, officials have seized cash amounting to over Rs 29 lakh from across the state after the model code of conduct came into force, the CEO said. A senior district police officer said the cash was seized from a person who was driving into the state from Assam. As the person carrying the cash could not provide any satisfactory and valid documents for the same the money was seized. According to the CEO, at least 34 assembly constituencies across the state have been identified as "expenditure sensitive" and flying squads are observing strict monitoring of move

Pakistan's ex-premier Imran Khan has said he will challenge in the Supreme Court the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, describing him an "enemy" of his party and slamming the election commission for reducing the country to a "Banana Republic". Naqvi was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab on Sunday night, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unanimously decided to appoint him to the post. His appointment came after the ruling party and the opposition in the province failed to reach consensus on a name for the post. Naqvi, who was one of the two candidates suggested by ex-Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, is the owner of a media house and said to be very close to PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Bangladesh will hold the presidential election by February 23, the country's poll body announced

With the objective of finding a technological solution for migrant voters to all stakeholders, the Commission has explored the option of using a modified version of the time-tested model of M3 EVMs

Congress leader G Niranjan has claimed that AIMIM leader and MP Asaduddin Owaisi has registered himself as a voter of two different assembly constituencies

The Delhi High Court has said that the Election Commission is free to proceed in the dispute between two rival factions of the Shiv Sena over the use of its name and symbol. The high court's order came while disposing of an appeal by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging a single judge's decision dismissing his plea against an Election Commission's (EC) interim order freezing the Shiv Sena name and election symbol. "It is pertinent to mention that the two preliminary issues which are sought to be raised by the appellant (Thackeray) are pending before the apex court...., yet the apex court... has held that there shall be no stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission of India. "Therefore, the Election Commission of India is free to proceed with the adjudication of the dispute pending before it," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said in an order passed on Thursday which was made available on Friday. The

The names of people who do not share their Aadhaar number to link with the election identity card will not be struck off the voters list, the government said on Friday, noting that the exercise is voluntary. The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows electoral registration officers to require the existing or prospective elector to provide the Aadhaar number for the "purpose of establishing identity" on a "voluntary basis", Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha. He was responding to a question on the linkage of Aadhaar with electoral rolls. The Election Commission has launched a programme to collect the Aadhaar number of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from August 1 in all the states and UTs. It is voluntary to link Aadhaar with a Voter ID and consent is obtained from the elector for Aadhaar authentication in Form 6B which was recently introduced, he said. However, the minister made it clear that "there is no provision for withdrawing the consent"

Pakistan's Election Commission on Tuesday initiated the process to remove Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan from his post following his disqualification in the Toshakhana case. A notice has been issued to the former prime minister and the case has been fixed for hearing on December 13, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting a top ECP official. Khan,70, is in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit. He was later disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under Article 63 (i) (p) for making "false statements and incorrect declaration." According to the ECP records, the gifts were purchased from the Toshakhana -- the state depository established in 1974 -- for Rs 21.5 million on the basis of their assessed value, while they were valued at around Rs 108 million. There have been numerous allegations and ...

A five-judge constitution bench emphasised that the appointment of the chief election commissioner and the election commissioners should be 'procedure-based and transparent'

Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, Delhi State Election Commission convened an all-party meeting on Monday

Aiming for reforms and transparency in donations received by political parties, the Election Commission has proposed reducing anonymous political donations from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000

Only a fraction of the RUPPs declare income and file audit reports

EC does well to delist inactive political parties

The Supreme Court Tuesday took note of the Eknath Shinde faction's claim about the Uddhav Thackeray camp stalling the proceedings before the poll panel where the former's application staking claim over the Shiv Sena and its symbol is pending, and said it will consider listing its plea before a constitution bench. The Election Commission is seized of a plea by the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seeking it be declared the real Shiv Sena and granted the party's bow and arrow poll symbol. The top court, while referring to a five-judge constitution bench several questions related to defection, merger and disqualification arising out of the recent Maharashtra political crisis had on August 23 directed the Election Commission not to pass any order on the Shinde faction's plea. According to us, there was no interim order. The court had granted an extension of time to the other side (Uddhav group). Now, the other side is stalling the proceedings before the Election Commission.

The bypoll to fill the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by BJP's Manik Saha after being made chief minister of Tripura will be held on September 22, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Saha had quit Rajya Sabha on July 4. His six-year term as a member of the upper house was to otherwise end on April 2, 2028. The notification for the bypoll will be issued on September 5, the poll panel said. The counting of votes will take place on September 22 itself a hour after the conclusion of polling.

The vice-president of India is elected by an electoral college consisting of the members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Here is a list of Indian VPs so far

Election Commission likely to hear the legal counsel for Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on Thursday in the mine lease case in which the BJP has sought his disqualification as an MLA under electoral law