The legitimacy of a democracy rests upon the integrity of its electoral process. In India, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is entrusted with the constitutional duty of conducting free and fair elections under Articles 324 to 329 of the Constitution. Yet in recent years, the institution has faced increasing scrutiny following allegations of vote chori—an expression connoting electoral manipulation or the unlawful distortion of vote counts. This article undertakes a legal and constitutional appraisal of the ECI’s structure and functioning, exploring the alleged loopholes that create opportunities for administrative and technological irregularities. It evaluates the judicial interpretation of the ECI’s powers through landmark decisions such as Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner (1978), A.C. Jose v. Sivan Pillai (1984), PUCL v. Union of India (2013), and Subramaniam Balaji v. State of Tamil Nadu (2013). The discussion further highlights comparative perspectives from other Commonwealth jurisdictions to assess how electoral commissions maintain public confidence. The paper concludes with reform-oriented recommendations designed to strengthen institutional independence, transparency, and technological accountability within India’s electoral machinery.
POONAM et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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