Kerala 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

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

body constituted in

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

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

for ensuring that

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

are conducted in a free, fair and unbiased way.

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 creation and safeguarding of the powers of State Election Commissions. The Kerala State Election Commission is responsible for conducting elections for Urban Local Bodies like

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' ...

and

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 ...

, as well as Rural Local Bodies like Panchayats (which include ''Gram Panchayats'', ''Block Panchayats'', and ''District Panchayats''), and any others specified by the

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 ...

. Kerala State Election Commissioner is appointed by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Kerala.

History and Administration

Kerala State Election Commission was formed in accordance with powers of Election Commission of India, which was constituted in year 1950 to supervise state level elections. State election commissioner is appointed by Governor. To ensure the autonomy of the position, the Kerala 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. Kerala State Election Commission operates from Vikas Bhavan premises, located near Kerala State Assembly premises.

Powers and Responsibilities

Kerala 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. * Municipal and Panchayat constituencies delimitation exercise. * Countermanding elections in case of mal practices.

Composition

Kerala 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 Sri A.Shajahan IAS, is the Chief Election Commissioner of Kerala State Election Commission. His period of service will be 5 years or attaining an age of 65 years whichever is earlier.

Constitutional Requirements

Kerala 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