-The Hindu Nobody can be permitted to dilute right to free and fair polls: Bench. The Supreme Court on Friday held that in any election, be it to Parliament or State legislature, the maintenance of secrecy of voting is “a must”. Secrecy is a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression. The confidentiality of choice strengthened democracy, it stated. “In direct elections to the Lok Sabha or State legislature, the maintenance of...

-The Indian Express Amid recent questions about the ECI’s autonomy, a look at how the body has steered India’s electoral history. On March 15, the Citizens’ Commission on Elections (CCE), chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, which examines critical aspects of conducting elections, released the second part of its report. Titled “An Inquiry into India’s Election System,” the report evaluated the integrity and inclusiveness of the electoral rolls, increasing...

-Press release by Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements dated 23rd September, 2020 ICCFM is a non-partisan national alliance of farmers movements representing 12 farmers' organizations across India based in UP, MP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana. Bharatiya Kisan Union, Karnataka State Farmers Association, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangham are among the major farmer movement. As with many other farmers organizations in this country, ICCFM is gravely worried about the anti-farmer bills...

-The Indian Express Elections are short term contests, but the political project of democracy is a long game. Democracy is not just a set of institutions but also a set of values. The institutions are, minimally speaking, Free and Fair Elections, an elected Parliament containing an executive and an Opposition to hold it accountable, an independent judiciary, a nonpartisan bureaucracy, a free media, and security of existence for all citizens. Democratic values...

-The Telegraph Protest over alleged 'procrastination, silence and inaction' of the poll panel during Lok Sabha elections New Delhi: Over 145 retired civil service officers, military veterans and renowned academics have come together to question the “procrastination, silence and inaction” that characterised the Election Commission’s response to issues thrown up during the recent general election. “The 2019 General Elections appear to have been one of the least Free and Fair Elections that the...