Which of the following statements regarding the electoral rolls is/are correct? 1. There is one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency. 2. No person is ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or any of them. 3. A citizen of India, not less than 18 years of age, can cast his/her vote unless disqualified under a law of an appropriate legislature. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)1, 2 and 3
- (c)2 and 3 only
- (d)1 and 2 only
Correct — B, 1, 2 and 3. All three statements are drawn from two short articles of the Constitution. Article 325 supplies the first two in a single sentence: there is to be one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency for elections to either House of Parliament or to a State legislature, and no person is to be ineligible for inclusion in such a roll, or to claim inclusion in any special roll, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them. That one clause abolished the separate communal electorates of the colonial period at a stroke, and it is why India has a single roll rather than one per community. Article 326 supplies the third: elections to the Lok Sabha and to the State legislative assemblies are on the basis of adult suffrage, and every citizen who is not less than eighteen years of age on the qualifying date, and is not otherwise disqualified under the Constitution or under any law made by the appropriate legislature on the ground of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice, is entitled to be registered as a voter. The age was twenty-one until the 61st Amendment Act of 1988 brought it down to eighteen. All three statements track the text, so the answer takes all of them.
- (a)1 only — Keeps the roll and drops the non-discrimination clause, which sits in the very same sentence of Article 325. The two halves cannot be separated.
- (c)2 and 3 only — Throws out the general electoral roll, which is the opening words of Article 325 and the constitutional basis for having a single roll per constituency.
- (d)1 and 2 only — The defensive pick, which stops before the voting-age statement. Article 326 does set eighteen as the age and does make the entitlement subject to disqualification by law, so statement 3 stands.
Part XV of the Constitution, Articles 324 to 329, holds the election provisions. Article 324 vests superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission of India. Article 325 requires one general roll per territorial constituency and forbids exclusion on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex. Article 326 puts Lok Sabha and assembly elections on adult suffrage. The mechanics — how rolls are made and revised, who is disqualified — come from the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951.
The item rewards knowing where the text stops as much as what it says. Statement 3 as printed says a citizen aged eighteen or more 'can cast his/her vote' unless disqualified, whereas Article 326 speaks of being entitled to be registered as a voter — registration comes first, and the vote follows from it. That is a small looseness in the printing rather than a substantive error, and the key treats the statement as correct. The historical point behind statement 2 is the one worth carrying away: separate electorates for Muslims began with the Government of India Act of 1909 and were extended later, and the Constituent Assembly rejected them, which is why Article 325 puts everyone on one roll.
- Article 325 requires one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency and bars ineligibility on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.
- Article 326 provides for elections to the Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies on the basis of adult suffrage.
- The voting age was reduced from twenty-one to eighteen by the 61st Amendment Act, 1988.
- Disqualifications permitted by Article 326 are non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime, and corrupt or illegal practice.
- Preparation and revision of electoral rolls is part of the Election Commission's work under Article 324, carried out under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
One roll, open to all, with the vote at eighteen — three sentences from two articles.
- Assuming there are separate rolls for separate elections; the roll for a territorial constituency is one and the same.
- Reading Article 325 as a general anti-discrimination clause; it bars exclusion on grounds only of religion, race, caste and sex, and disqualifications on other grounds are expressly allowed.
- Forgetting that eighteen came in only in 1988 and that the original text said twenty-one.
As a statements item on Articles 325 and 326, or as an application question on who may or may not be enrolled.
Consider the following tasks: 1. Superintendence, direction and conduct of free and fair elections 2. Preparation of electoral rolls for all elections to the Parliament, State Legislatures and the Office of the President and the Vice-President 3. Giving recognition to political parties and individuals contesting the election 4. Proclamation of final verdict in the case of election disputes Which of the above are the functions of the Election Commission of India?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 2, 3 and 4
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 1, 2 and 4
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3
The institutional half of the same subject. Statement 1 here says there is one roll per constituency; that UPSC item asks who prepares those rolls, and the answer is the Election Commission acting under Article 324 — the same Part XV that supplies Articles 325 and 326.
CDS_GK_2020_I_Q702020Overseas Indians can exercise franchise in an election to the Lok Sabha under which of the following conditions? 1. They must be citizens of India. 2. Their names must figure in the electoral roll. 3. They must be present in India to vote. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 2 only
- (d) 1 only
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3
A working application of statement 1. An overseas Indian votes only if he is a citizen and his name is on the roll of a constituency and he is physically present to cast the vote — which is what having one general roll per territorial constituency means in practice.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The provision that there shall be one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency is contained in which Article of the Constitution of India?
- (a)Article 324
- (b)Article 325
- (c)Article 326
- (d)Article 327
Answer(b) Article 325 — the same article also forbids ineligibility for inclusion on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The voting age in India was lowered from twenty-one years to eighteen years by which Constitutional Amendment?
- (a)The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976
- (b)The 44th Amendment Act, 1978
- (c)The 52nd Amendment Act, 1985
- (d)The 61st Amendment Act, 1988
Answer(d) The 61st Amendment Act, 1988 — it amended Article 326, which had until then set the qualifying age at twenty-one.