Concept Page
Electoral Reform Committee
An Electoral Reform Committee is a body that reviews and proposes changes to electoral systems. It plays a crucial role in shaping democratic processes. India's Electoral Reform Committee, for instance, was established in 1990.
Electoral Reform Committee denotes a formally constituted body—often appointed by the government or the Election Commission—to scrutinise existing electoral laws, diagnose systemic deficiencies, and recommend legislative or procedural changes aimed at enhancing the fairness, transparency, and efficiency of democratic elections. Its distinct significance lies in the fact that, unlike ad‑hoc commissions that merely oversee a single election, an Electoral Reform Committee is tasked with long‑term structural redesign, bridging the gap between constitutional mandates (such as Article 324, which vests the Election Commission of India with the authority to conduct elections) and the evolving demands of a pluralistic electorate.
Origins / Historical Background
The first major Electoral Reform Committee in independent India was convened in 1990 under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India K. S. Hegde. Known as the Hegde Committee, it submitted a 1990 report that urged the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the regularisation of delimitation based on the decennial census, and the codification of a Model Code of Conduct—later formalised in 1971 and reinforced by the 1990 recommendations.
A second landmark body, the 2005 Committee on Electoral Reforms chaired by former Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan, built on Hegde’s groundwork by recommending voter‑verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) and stricter limits on campaign expenditure. Its 2005 report catalysed the Election Commission’s pilot of VVPAT in the 2013 by‑elections of Nagaland and, after successive trials, the mandatory rollout of VVPAT across all polling stations in the 2019 general election.
Both committees were established under the authority of the Ministry of Law and Justice, invoking Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA) which empowers the government to constitute advisory panels for electoral improvement.
How It Works / Mechanism
An Electoral Reform Committee typically comprises former judges, senior bureaucrats, political scientists, and representatives of civil‑society organisations. Members