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them, and they work to look after the welfare of Open Ballot
these people only, forgetting all other people. In an open ballot, the people of a constituency
Direct elections are often termed ‘mobocracy’ (or gather at one place and elect a candidate of their
the system of power of the mob) because the most
choice by raising their hands. However, this
numerous community or caste succeeds to elect system is not feasible for a constituency with a
its desired candidates. It is also seen that the
large population. As it can be seen who has voted
intelligentsia keeps away from direct elections. An
for whom, there is possibility of some discord
important demerit of direct elections is that a lot of among the people.
expenditure has to be incurred by the government
as well as the candidates every few years, which is Secret Ballot
a burden on the economy. In a secret ballot, the names and symbols of the
In India, the members of the Lok Sabha, state candidates are printed on a ballot paper. The
legislatures and local self-governments are elected people tick or mark against the name they want to
by direct elections. vote for. The person securing the maximum votes
is elected. This system has many merits. First, the
Indirect Elections
voters can express their choice freely and without
As the name suggests, the people do not elect any fear as nobody knows who has voted for
their representatives directly. In this system, an whom. The candidates do not know who have
electoral college is elected, the members of which voted for them, so they work for the welfare of all
elect the representatives. people. The election or rejection of a candidate
Merits of Indirect Elections does not create ill-will among people.
The members of the electoral college are In India, the secret ballot is adopted for election.
experienced and educated people, so they elect
the representatives on merit. It also saves on the Quiz Time
large expenditure by the government and Fill in the blanks :
candidates.
1. __________ has become a popular form of
Demerits of Indirect Elections government the world over.
As the candidates are not directly elected by the 2. The __________ are elected to work for the
people, there is no direct contact between them, well-being of the people and the nation.
and the candidates may not look after the welfare
of the people. Rather, they will concentrate on 3. In India, the holding of elections is the
appeasing the members of the electoral college responsibility of the __________ .
only. 4. The __________ know the value of the people’s
votes.
Indirect elections are held for the election of
candidates for the Rajya Sabha at the centre and
Vidhan Parishads in the states. POLITICAL PARTIES
The purpose of holding elections is to form the
Info Bits
Info Bits government. The government can be formed
when more than one-half of elected members
In India, there is no minimum educational come together. If all candidates contest elections
qualifications or maximum age limit for contesting in their individual capacity, they all may not share
an election, due to which many inefficient the same ideology and agree to the same agenda.
incapable but influential people get elected. So, it would be difficult to muster the support of
Open or Secret Ballot one-half of members to form the government. This
would result in anarchy.
A direct election is held by open ballot and an
indirect election is held by secret ballot. However, if the elected members belong to one
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