{"id":34306,"date":"2024-12-26T17:50:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-26T12:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=34306"},"modified":"2024-12-26T17:50:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-26T12:20:15","slug":"ec-conduct-of-election-rules-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-12-2024\/ec-conduct-of-election-rules-amendment","title":{"rendered":"EC\u2019s Conduct of Election Rules\u00a0 amendment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Syllabus :GS 2\/Governance <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification amending Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conduct of Election Rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The Conduct of Election Rules,1961, is a set of rules which provide for provisions on how to conduct the elections as per the Representation of People Act.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Recent Amendment\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • The recent amendment was done by the Union Law Ministry following a recommendation from the Election Commission (EC<\/strong>).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Before the amendment, the rule stated that all election-related papers should be open to public inspection.\n
        \n
      • After the amendment, the rule now states that only specified election-related papers are available for public inspection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Rationale behind the Amendment\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • The amendment follows a direction from the Punjab and Haryana High Court<\/strong> for the Election Commission (EC)<\/strong> to share all election documents, including CCTV footage of polling stations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • The Election Commission argued that there were concerns over violating the secrecy of votes and the potential misuse of CCTV footage (using artificial intelligence).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • The amendment aimed to clarify that electronic records (e.g., CCTV footage) are not automatically included under the term “election papers”.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Criticism <\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Activists argue the amendment limits citizens’ right to access election-related information, which is central to transparency in elections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • The amendment restricts access to documents (such as Presiding Officers\u2019 diaries on voter turnout) that are important for transparency but were not specifically mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • The Opposition has criticized the amendment, claiming it reflects their concerns about the deterioration of electoral integrity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Conclusion and Way Forward\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules represent an important effort to adapt the electoral process to the demands of modern societies.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • By increasing transparency, improving accessibility, bolstering security, and embracing new technologies, these changes seek to improve the election system, making it more efficient and trustworthy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • However, the success of these amendments will depend on careful implementation, continued monitoring, and a focus on inclusivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Source : TH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification amending Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34307,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34306\/revisions\/34307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}