Summary:

A Democracy is only as effective as its electoral system.

• Our present electoral system suffers from many short-comings that, given the will of the people and support of the Election Commission and the Judiciary, can be easily corrected.
• ONE NATION, ONE POLL to better reflect people’s choices clearly at that time.
• We need a system that selects the right candidates with appropriate qualification and that is properly reflective of the opinion of at least 50 percent of the electoral vote.
• The right to Reject or Recall must be allowed for.
• NOTA must be made effective.
• Politicians – Term limits must be laid down to prevent politicians from becoming professional or dynastic. Perks and and privileges to be at a minimum. No pensions.
• No-confidence vote should be replaced by the more effective and immediate confidence vote.
• Bye-elections should be done away with.
• Election funding is not a good idea. Donations to candidates and to the Parties must be identifiable and limited and accountable and transparent.
• Independents and marginal Parties with less than five or perhaps even ten percent of the seats must be made to join together or join any of the larger Parties to enable the elected Government to function properly over the term.
• Ombudsman / Lok Pal / Lok Ayukta to be appointed.

Highlights

• Regular Elections are an essential part of a democratic political system and it is best that the elections to State and Central Legislatures be held at one time so that the will of the people about changes in the Government policies can be properly executed.
• An effective electoral system should allow for proper voting methodology – selection of candidates and also, deal with all other aspects, such as election funding, ‘NOTA’ option and even Professional Politicians.
• Devising an electoral system to resolve social choice problems can be quite controversial as existing politicians will disagree, but it can be done with the Will of the people and with the help of the Election Commission and the Judiciary.

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