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Class 9 Elections: cheat sheet
CBSE Social Science. Direct and indirect elections, FPTP, proportional representation and STV, the Election Commission, delimitation, the anti-defection law and how technology helps voters.
Key ideas
- In direct elections citizens vote themselves (Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha); in indirect elections elected members choose (Rajya Sabha, President, Vice President).
- Under First-Past-The-Post the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins, even with less than half.
- Under proportional representation parties win seats in proportion to their votes; a single transferable vote passes votes on by preference until seats are filled.
- The Election Commission runs elections, prepares voter lists, recognises parties and enforces the Model Code of Conduct.
- Delimitation redraws constituencies so that each seat stands for roughly the same number of people.
- The anti-defection law can disqualify a member who leaves their party or defies its whip; the Speaker or Chairman decides.
- EVMs with VVPAT and Braille, apps like Voter Helpline and cVIGIL, and home voting for people over 85 make voting easier and fairer.
Remember
| Election Commission | set up 25 January 1950 (National Voters’ Day); Articles 324–329 |
| Anti-defection law | 52nd Amendment, 1985 |
| Psephology | the scientific study of elections |
| Two-round system | over 50% needed, else a runoff between the top two |
| Seats under PR | vote share × total seats, e.g. 40% of 50 seats = 20 seats |
Watch out
- Thinking FPTP needs more than half the votes: the most votes is enough.
- Calling Rajya Sabha elections direct: its members are chosen by elected MLAs.
- Mixing up delimitation (redrawing seats) and defection (changing party).
Worked example
Under proportional representation, a house of 77 seats is shared by vote: party P gets 33%, Q 28%, and others 39%. About how many seats do P and Q get (to the nearest whole number)?
Working: 33% and 28% of 77
Answer: P about 25, Q about 22
Practise Elections
Revise with this page, then practise: every Elections sheet in the app is new, with an answer key and working.
Coming soon for Android and iPhone.