Law Commission 255th report
Also called: Electoral Reforms report (2015) · Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Law Commission's 255th report, Electoral Reforms (2015), was prepared under Justice A.P. Shah. It recommended:
- regulating party finances;
- making paid news and false affidavits electoral offences;
- curbs on opinion polls;
- the totaliser, a device that adds up votes from about 14 EVMs together so no one can see how a single booth voted;
- appointing Election Commissioners through a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
Most of these ideas have not been enacted.
Example
Paid news is still not a separate offence. It is only counted as election spending. The appointment idea was taken up for a while in Anoop Baranwal (2023). Then the CEC and ECs Act 2023 replaced the CJI with a Cabinet Minister.
Don't confuse with
- Law Commission 244th report (2014): it dealt only with disqualifying candidates once charges are framed against them.