Editing Politics of India (section)

=== Election Commission of India ===
{{Main|Election Commission of India}}
The '''Election Commission of India''' ('''ECI''') is a [[constitutional body]] established by the [[Constitution of India]] empowered to conduct [[Elections in India|free and fair elections in India]]. The Election commission is headed by a [[Chief Election Commissioner of India|Chief Election Commissioner]] and consists of two other [[Election Commissioner of India|Election Commissioners]].

At the [[States and union territories of India|states and union territories]], the Election Commission is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer of the state or union territory (CEO), who leads the election machinery in the states and union territories. At the district and constituency levels, the [[District collector|District Magistrates/District Collectors]] (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work.

The Election Commission operates under the powers granted by [[Part XV of the Constitution of India|Article 324]] of the [[Constitution of India|Constitution]] and subsequently enacted [[Representation of the People Act (India)|Representation of the People Act]]. The [[States Election Commission (India)|state election commissions]] are responsible for conducting local body elections in the respective states. The election commission decides the dates for the filing of nominations, voting, counting and announcement of results.

A law for the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989. The registration ensures that the political parties are recognized as national, state and regional parties. The election commission has the right to allot symbols to the political parties depending on the status. The same symbol cannot be allocated to two political parties even if they do not contest in the region.

The commission prepares electoral rolls and updates the voter list. To prevent electoral fraud, Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) were introduced in 1993. However certain legal documents such as [[Ration card (India)|ration cards]] have been allowed for voting in certain situations.