AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

One Nation, One Election Bill, 2024

Arrangement of sections

Preliminary
1. Short Title, Extent and Commencement
2. Definitions
3. Appointment and Term of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election
Commissioners
4. Synchronization of Elections
5. Amending the Constitution
6. Interim Government
7. Code of Conduct for Elections
8. Photo Identity Cards
9. Electoral Process
10. Financial Provisions

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
 AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

One Nation, One Election Bill, 2024

To exercise jurisdiction over and promulgate regulations pertaining to statutes concerning

elections in India, its unified process, powers to bodies helping conduct elections in India, or any
associated matter.

1. Short Title, Extent, Commencement

a. This Act shall be cited as One Nation, One Election Act of 2024.
b. This Act extends to the whole of India.
c. It shall come into force on such a date, as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions
a. "Election Cycle" refers to the period between the commencement and conclusion
of elections at all levels of government;
b. "Concurrent Elections" refers to the holding of elections for Lok Sabha, State
Legislative Assemblies, and Local Bodies simultaneously;
c. "One Nation, One Election" refers to the concept of synchronizing all elections
across various levels of government in the country to a single electoral cycle,
thereby minimizing the frequency of polls and promoting administrative efficiency
and policy continuity;
d. “Election Commission of India '' is the body responsible for conducting and
overseeing elections in India, constituted under Article 324 of the Indian
Constitution;
e. “Unity Government” or “Interim Government” means a government as
described in section 5(a) of this bill;
f. “Code of Conduct” are certain guidelines published by Election Commission of
India for political parties and candidates to set standards for conduct during election
campaign and polling;
g. “Buffer Period” is time period in which the Election Commission shall have the
duties of updating EVMs, counting votes, setting up new polling stations, and any
related tasks;

Chapter 2 (Appointment and Process)

3. Appointment and Term of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election

Commissioners
a. The Election Commission shall consist of-
(i) Chief Election Commissioner, and

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
 AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

(ii) Such number of other Election Commissioners as the President may fix from
time to time.
b. The Chief Election Commissioner shall be appointed by a committee comprising
of-
i. The Prime Minister of India
ii. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
iii. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
iv. Any one Minister as may be recommended by the President.
c. The State Election Commissions shall consist of:
i. A State Election Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor of the
State and the Chief Justice of the High Court;
ii. The Election Commission of India shall appoint such number of Regional
Commissioners as they may deem necessary to facilitate the
synchronization of elections of State Legislative Assemblies and the
Panchayati Raj and Municipalities elections in the State.
4. Synchronization of Elections
a. The Election Commission of India shall be responsible for coordinating the
synchronization of elections along all levels of government in accordance with this
Act.
b. The process of synchronization shall take place in phases over the span of four
weeks, excluding the buffer periods, in accordance with provisions of this Act.
c. The election process shall commence at the district level with Panchayati Raj and
Municipality elections being held in the first week;
i. Elections shall be conducted in a phased marked manner, categorized by
tiers of the cities used hitherto by ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ for
administrative convenience;
ii. This section shall be liable to the provisions of this Act.
d. Election process for the State Legislative Assemblies shall be held in the second
week after a buffer period;
i. The election shall take place with respect to regions of North, South, East
and West in such order;
ii. This section shall be liable to the provisions of this Act.
e. Election process for the Lok Sabha and the Union Territories shall be held in the
third and fourth week after a buffer period;
i. The elections shall take place in the order of increasing constituency number
in each State;
Illustration: Let state X have 100 constituencies and state Y have 50
constituencies, then State X Lok Sabha elections shall precede State Y Lok
Sabha elections.
ii. This section shall be liable to the provisions of this Act.

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
 AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

f. The synchronization process shall involve consultations with all relevant

stakeholders, including political parties, state governments, local authorities, and
civil society organizations.
g. Any alteration to the election schedule, once synchronized elections are established
except under extraordinary circumstances, shall be prohibited.

4. Amending the Constitution

a. Amendments to the Constitution to enable simultaneous elections at all levels of
the Government shall involve significant changes to several articles including;
i. Introduction of Article 324A for simultaneous elections in Panchayats and
Municipalities;
ii. Article 325 for a single electoral roll.
Explanation: these amendments shall involve ratifications by states due to
their impact on Federalism.
b. In order to maintain stability and prevent undue influence on the electoral process,
discussions or proposals regarding the creation, modification, or elimination of
constituencies shall be prohibited until the year 2049;
i. Any attempt to initiate discussions or propose changes to constituency roles
before the stipulated year of 2049 shall be deemed invalid.
5. Interim Government
a. In the inception years, it is required to create an initiating point from which all
states’ elections to Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, Panchayati Raj and
Municipalities are synchronized;
b. To synchronize elections all across India, it is necessary to create interim
governments in states which are not already synchronized with initiating point.
c. The sitting government in the state shall automatically become the interim
government of that state till the elections have been synchronized;
d. The Interim Government shall possess necessary administrative, political, fiscal,
and legislative powers;
e. In the event of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies or
premature termination of its term, necessitating the conduct of fresh elections,
provisions shall be made for the formation of an interim government to oversee the
administration of the country or state until the conclusion of elections and the
formation of a new government;
f. The Interim Government shall have the authority to promulgate ordinance bills
during its tenure.
6. Photo Identity Cards and EVMs
a. The Election Commission of India shall issue photo identity cards to all eligible
voters, containing their photograph, name, and other relevant details, to facilitate
the identification and authentication of voters during elections;

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
 AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

b. Photo identity cards shall serve as the only means of voter identification at polling
stations;
c. The implementation entails a centralized Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)
system, wherein all counted votes shall be transmitted to designated regional heads;
d. During the buffer period, the EVMs shall be updated with necessary changes for
the next phase of the election;
e. The Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) proof shall be delivered to the
regional heads, prioritizing Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. It shall not come under the
aegis, domain or jurisdiction of Right to Information.
7. Electoral Process
a. Standardized polling hours, ballot formats, and polling station protocols shall be
implemented nationwide, administered by election officials trained to uphold
electoral integrity and facilitate smooth voting operations;
b. The Election Commission shall deploy adequate resources and personnel to
supervise election preparations, polling, and vote counting processes across the
country, maintaining impartiality and integrity throughout the electoral cycle;
c. A separate dedicated cadre of paramilitary force shall be put in place. Their
corrigendum of recruitment shall be done from AGNIVEER;
d. The electoral process shall be complemented by comprehensive public awareness
and voter education campaigns, aimed at enhancing civic participation;
e. Following each electoral cycle, the Election Commission shall conduct
comprehensive post-election reviews to evaluate the effectiveness, integrity, and
efficiency of the electoral process;
f. Once an interim government budget has been passed and implemented, there shall
be no reconsideration or rediscussing of the budgetary allocations until the
subsequent full-term government assumes office;
i. Any attempt to reopen discussions or make amendments to the Interim
Government budget shall be deemed null and void.
8. Financial Provisions
a. A portion of the funds allocated for simultaneous elections shall be sourced from
political party donations, wherein a mandatory contribution shall be levied on
political parties;
i. The deposit amount for general candidates shall be increased to ₹70,000,
and for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, the deposit amount shall
be increased to ₹50,000 as per the discretion of the Election Commission of
India.
b. Any political party failing to meet the mandated financial contribution shall face
proportional reductions in state funding and electoral campaign subsidies;
c. The Government shall invest funds in the stock market for the purpose of
establishing a corpus. The corpus growth continues via market-linked returns,

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
there should be a provision within the state budget that a certain amount of revenue generated from taxes
should be allocated for funding of elections within state
 this allows a large amount of money to the discretion of certain individuals
to invest in isntitutionsAS
andINTRODUCED
this is not the right
INmethod
LOTUS to rise funds for
SANSAD
management of elections

paving way for state funded elections hereon. The Election Commission of India
will be the nodal agency to regulate, supervise and recruit members to manage the
corpus;
d. The corpus established shall be utilized for election budgetary purposes.

9. Model Code of Conduct

a. In order to ensure free and fair elections and maintain the integrity of the electoral
process, a Model Code of Conduct shall be prescribed by the Election Commission;
b. The Model Code of Conduct shall outline ethical standards and guidelines for
political parties, candidates, and other stakeholders participating in the electoral
process;
c. Provisions of the Model Code of Conduct shall include but not be limited to:
i. Prohibition of hate speech, incitement to violence, and any form of
discrimination;
ii. Restrictions on the use of government resources for electoral purposes;
iii. Guidelines for the conduct of election campaigning, including the regulation
of public meetings, rallies, and propaganda.
since the current world is so digital it should be brought under the mcc
d. Digital marketing activities, including but not limited to social media campaigning,
online advertisements, and email campaigns, shall not be considered as part of the
Model Code of Conduct;
e. The rules and prescription of Inner Line Permit (ILP) to government officials and
Election Commission personnels in areas coming under Schedule VI of the
Constitution shall be deemed void three months prior to the announcement of
Model Code of Conduct till the Oath Taking Ceremony.

DISCLAIMER:

The Organising Committee of LOTUS SANSAD Mock Parliament has diligently endeavoured
to emulate the proceedings of the Indian Parliament and has formulated its rules in alignment with
those provided by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. While striving to adhere closely to the
original rules of procedure, certain deviations have been introduced to enrich debate and enhance
the overall experience. These deviations from the standard rules of procedure align with
allowances stipulated by the Lok Sabha scheme outlined by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs,
Government of India. As such, they are not subject to legal challenge in any form.
It is brought to light that any legal inconsistency is wholly unintentional and for the same we
extend our apologies in advance.

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.
 AS INTRODUCED IN LOTUS SANSAD

Statement of Object and Reason

This proposed Bill would synchronize the timing of National, State, and Local elections in order
to avoid frequent election cycles. The idea of ‘one nation, one election’ has been floated and
explored on several occasions in the past by various entities, including the Election Commission,
the Law Commission and parliamentary committees. It’s observed that asynchronous multiple
elections lead to frequent disruption in policy making and administration, leading to uncertainty
about the government's policies.
According to an estimate deliberated in a parliamentary panel discussion, elections to the Lok
Sabha and legislative assemblies cost the Election Commission of India more than Rs 4,500 crore.
This is besides the declared and undeclared poll expenses by candidates and political parties.
The Bill is moved to bring uniformity, lessen the fiscal burden bureaucratic postings; inter alia. In
view of both the economic losses and the slowdown in policy-making, the Bill suggests that India
should revert to cycle of simultaneous elections.

Gurugram Ministry of Law and Justice

May 2024

This is a Mock Bill prepared for the purpose of Lotus Sansad-Mock Parliament. This is not a Bill being
considered by either House of the Parliament of India.