Powers and functions of the Election Commission of India:
1. Delimitation of Constituencies: The primary function of elections in a country has to be divided into several constituencies (A Constituency is a territorial area from where a candidate is elected by the voters). The work of delimiting constituencies is generally performed by Delimitation Commission consisting of five serving or retired Judges of the Supreme Court and the Chief Election Commissioner who is its ex-officio member.
2. Preparation of Electoral Rolls: Each constituency has a comprehensive list of voters. It is known as the Electoral Roll, or the Voters List.
The Commission prepares the Electoral Roll for Parliament as well as Legislative Assembly elections.
The Electoral Roll of every constituency contains the names of all persons who have right to vote in that constituency.
The Electoral Roll is also revised from time to time generally before every general election, by election and midterm election in the constituency.
The revision is carried from house to house by enumerators appointed by Election Commission. All eligible voters are registered.
3. Recognition of Political Parties:
(a) One of the other important functions of the Election Commission is to recognise political parties as all India (National) or State (Regional) Political Parties.
(b) If in a general election, a particular party gets four per cent of the total valid votes polled in any four states it is recognised as an all India (National) Party.
(c) If a party gets four per cent of the total valid votes in a state, it is recognised as a State or Regional Party.
4. Allotment of Symbol: Political Parties have symbols which are allotted by the Election Commission. For example, Lotus (कमल का खिला हुआ पुष्प) is the symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Hand (हाथ, हथेली या पंजा) is the symbol of the Indian National Congress.
Symbols of the political parties are important for the following reasons:
(i) They are a help for the illiterate voters who cannot read the names of the candidates.
(ii) They help in differentiate between two candidates having the same name.
