Gujarat State Election Commission is an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

and

statutory A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

body constituted in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

for ensuring that

elections in Gujarat Elections in Gujarat have been conducted since 1962 to elect the members of the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha and the members of the lower house of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha. There are 182 Vidhan Sabha constituencies and 26 Lok Sabha constituen ...

are conducted in a free, fair and unbiased way. The

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

with provisions as per Article 243K and 243 ZA and Article 324 ensures the creation and safeguarding of the powers of State Election Commissions. Gujarat State Election Commission is responsible for conducting elections for

Urban Local Bodies In India, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), also called municipalities, are self-government institutions responsible for the administration of cities, towns, and transitional areas within a state or Union Territory. The 74th amendment to the Const ...

Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Municipal Corporations Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ow ...

, Panchayats and any other specified by

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

. Gujarat State Election Commissioner is appointed by

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History and Administration

Gujarat State Election Commission was formed in accordance with powers of

, which was constituted in year 1950 to supervise state level elections. State Election Commission, Gujarat was constituted in September 1993 under Article 243K of the Constitution of India. State Election Commission has been entrusted with the function of conducting free, fair and impartial elections to the local bodies in the state. State election commissioner is appointed by Governor. To ensure the autonomy of the position, the Gujarat state election commissioner cannot be removed from office except on the grounds and manner specified for

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of High Court.

Powers and Responsibilities

State election commission carries out activities related to preparation of wards / election division as per local bodies rules, decision of boundaries and distribution of seats along with preparation of voters list for the local bodies organizations like Gram Panchayat, Taluka and District Panchayat / Municipality and Municipal Corporation of the state and conducting general / mid-term / bye-elections and supervising them. For all these functions, the authority is vested in the State Election Commission under Article 243 K under which it has been empowered with Superintendence, Direction and Control of elections of local bodies. As per the election rules of such local self government organizations, District Election Officer for Panchayat elections, District Municipal Election Officer for elections of municipality and City Election Officer for the elections of municipal corporation have been appointed. State election commission has empowered the collectors for all activities related to elections of Gram Panchayat where as the delimitation and allocation of seats for various reserved categories, voter's list, election programs and other related activities are carrying out by State Election Commission. Gujarat States Election Commissioner is responsible for the following: * Releasing election schedule. * Issue notification containing guidelines for conducting elections for Municipal Corporations in State. * Conducting elections for Municipal Corporations in State. * Issue notification containing guidelines for conducting elections for conducting elections for Municipal panchayats in State. * Conducting elections for Municipal panchayats in State. * Laying guidelines for persons eligible to contest in elections for Municipal Corporations in State. * Conducting elections for Municipal panchayats in State. * Model code of conduct are following in elections for local bodies. * Updating Electoral rolls with new additions. * Updating Electoral rolls with removals, if any. * Declaration of results of elections held for Municipal Corporations in State. * Declaration of results of elections held for Municipal panchayats in State. * Ordering repoll if needed. * Making arrangements for Statewide polls. * Monitoring poll expenditure for Panchayat polls. * Laying guidelines for issue of opinion polls. * Decision on conducting elections. * Declaring results of local body polls.

Composition

Gujarat State Election Commission is headed by Chief Election Commissioner and as many members as specified in State Act. State Election Commissioners are independent persons not holding position or office in any Central or State Government organisations Smt. P. Bharathi, I.A.S., is the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and Shri Sanjay Prasad is the Chief Election Commissioner of Gujarat State Election Commission. His period of service will be 5 years or attaining an age of 65 years whichever is earlier. State Government has appointed Shri Sanjay Prasad, IAS (Retd) as State Election Commissioner with effect from 03/09/2019

Constitutional Requirements

Gujarat State Election Commission was formed after amendment of Constitution with 73rd and 74th declaration. State Election Commissions were formed as per Article 243K of the Constitution, similar to setting up of Election commission of India as per Article 324.

References

External links