This article is about the body which oversees elections in India. For similar bodies in other jurisdictions, see Election commission. Not to be confused with Election Commissioners of India. The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India at national, state and district level. The body administers elections to the Lok Saba, RajyaSaba State Legislative Assemblies, State Legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election. Being a constitutional authority, Election Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom, along with the country’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The commission was established in 1950 and originally only had a Chief Election Commissioner. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989 (on the eve of the 1989 General Election), but they had a very short tenure, ending on 1 January 1990. "The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1989" was adopted on 1 January 1990 which turned the commission into a multi-member body: a 3- member Commission has been in operation since then and the decisions by the commission are made by a majority vote. The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners who are usually retired IAS officers draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as per the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992. The commission is served by its secretariat located in New Delhi. The Election Commissioners are assisted by Deputy Election Commissioners, who are generally IAS officers. They are further assisted by Directors General, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries and Under Secretaries. At the State level, Election Commission is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary Rank. At the district and constituency levels, the District Magistrates in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work. Article 324 (1), XV part of the constitution provides the Election commission to supervise and conduct the elections to Parliament, State Legislatures, the offices of the President, Vice-President of India. The election commission of India is a Permanent, Autonomous, Constitutionally independent body. It consist of the Chief Election commissioner and other election commissioners are appointed by the President of India.
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