Elections and the RPA — Quick Revision

A last-week sheet on elections and the Representation of the People Acts. Section numbers matter in Prelims; judgments matter in Mains.

Constitutional Articles

Article	Provision
324	Election Commission — superintendence, direction, control
325	Single electoral roll; no exclusion on religion, race, caste, sex
326	Adult suffrage (18 years — 61st Amendment, 1988)
327 / 328	Parliament / State legislatures make election laws
329	Courts barred from electoral matters; disputes only by election petition
82 / 170	Readjustment of seats after each census (frozen)
330 / 332	SC/ST reservation in Lok Sabha / Assemblies

RPA 1950	RPA 1951
Allocation of seats	Qualifications and disqualifications
Delimitation of constituencies	Election machinery
Electoral rolls; registration of voters	Registration of parties (29A)
Chief Electoral Officer, DEO, ERO	Conduct of poll, counting
Overseas electors (20A)	Corrupt practices (123), offences
—	Election petitions; by-elections (151A)

Section	Rule
8	Disqualification on conviction (8(3): two years or more → conviction + six years after release)
8A	Disqualification for corrupt practices — by the President
10A	Failure to lodge election expenses — three years, by the Election Commission
11	Election Commission may remove or reduce a disqualification
29A / 29B / 29C	Party registration / contributions / reporting above ₹20,000
33(7)	Maximum two constituencies
33A / 125A	Disclosure of criminal cases / false affidavit offence
61A	EVMs
62(5)	No voting from prison or police custody (except preventive detention)
77	Account of election expenses
80A / 81	Election petition in High Court / within 45 days
116A	Appeal to Supreme Court
123	Corrupt practices
126 / 126A	48-hour silence / exit poll ban
151A	By-election within six months
158	Deposit forfeited at one-sixth or less of valid votes

Cases that keep returning

Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) — free and fair elections part of the basic structure.
Union of India v. ADR (2002) — voters’ right to know candidates’ antecedents.
Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India (2006) — open ballot and no domicile requirement for Rajya Sabha upheld.
Lily Thomas v. Union of India (2013) — Section 8(4) struck down.
PUCL v. Union of India (2013) — NOTA.
Subramanian Swamy v. ECI (2013) — VVPAT needed.
Abhiram Singh v. C.D. Commachen (2017) — no appeals on religion or caste, including the voter’s.
ADR v. Union of India (2024) — Electoral Bond Scheme struck down.

Delimitation Commissions were set up under Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
Number of seats frozen on the 1971 census until the first census after 2026 (42nd Amendment, then 84th Amendment, 2001).
Boundaries readjusted on the 2001 census (87th Amendment, 2003).

Election Commission conducts elections; the High Court decides election disputes.
The Model Code of Conduct is not a statute.
NOTA votes do not lead to a re-poll, even if NOTA gets the most votes.
Undertrials can contest; prisoners cannot vote.