Elections in India

India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the union government and the states.However, it is the Prime Minister of India, who is the leader of the party or political alliance having a majority in the national elections to the Lok Sabha (Lower house of the Parliament).Candidates who win the Lok Sabha elections are called 'Members of Parliament' and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers.[7] Members of the State Legislative Assembly are elected directly by voting from a set of candidates who contest in their respective constituencies.Similar to the Lok Sabha elections, the leader of the majority party/alliance takes an oath as Chief Minister of the State.For example, An 83-year-old woman, Dolma, cast her vote at the Chasak Bhatori polling station in the Pangi area of the Chamba district after covering 14 kilometers walking on a snowy road during the 2022 assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.Common reasons for by-elections: But other reasons occur when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office (criminal conviction, failure to maintain a minimum level of attendance in the office, due to election irregularities found later, or when a candidate wins more than one seat and has to vacate one).Candidates are not elected directly by the citizens but by the members of legislative assemblies and up to 13 can be nominated by the President of India for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services.The Election Commission of India has granted permission for individuals aged 80 and above and those with physical challenges to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes using ballot papers.[16] To avail of this facility, eligible individuals must register with the designated booth-level officer at least 10 days prior to the election date.Election officials in Bhopal, India, are actively reaching out to the residences of super senior citizens (aged above 80 years) and voters with disabilities to provide assistance in submitting their votes through postal ballots for 2023 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections.[20] In the 2014 general election, VVPAT was operational in 8 constituencies (Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib and Mizoram) as a pilot project.[21][22] A slip generated by the VVPAT tells a voter to which party or candidate their vote has been given, their name, their constituency and their polling booth.[23][24][25][26][27] Opposition parties demanded that VVPAT be made mandatory all over India due to allegations against the government of hacking the EVM.[30][31][32] VVPAT enables voters to cross-check whether the vote they have given goes to their desired candidate, as the VVPAT unit produces a paper slip, additionally called a ballot slip, that contains the name, serial number, and image of the candidate selected by the voter for his vote.[33] On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India judged that citizens have the right to cast a negative vote by exercising the "None of the above" (NOTA) option.