Former Research Associate, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi
JournalRVIMJ
Volume / Issue3 / 5
Pages54–59
Published10 May 2026
Paper IDRVIMJ35M26009
Views / Downloads1 / 0
Article summary
Abstract
Introduction- Electoral democracy functions efficiently because of the two main principles of
universal adult suffrage and easy access to participate in voting. In the case of the
Indian federal electoral system, which has been able to successfully conduct the world’s
largest democratic experiments (Yadav, 2019), there existed two parallel registration
processes where the rolls maintained by the ECI are for national and state-level
elections, while the State Election Commissions have their own register for local body
elections. This divide in the electoral system, although justified by the distribution of
powers provided for by the constitution of India, has increasingly revealed inefficiency
in recent times (Brass, 2020). The idea of “One Nation, One Electoral Roll” thus becomes
an innovative concept that would make use of the infrastructure of the Indian electoral
system for better democratic practices, removing all barriers to easy access to the
electoral process of over 950 million voters (Election Commission of India, 2024).
Keywords
One NationOne Electoral Roll (ONOER)Electoral DemocracyUniversal Adult SuffrageElectoral GovernanceElection Commission of India (ECI).
Citation record
How to cite this article
Mohd Uvais (2026). One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3(5), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009
Mohd Uvais. “One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 3, no. 5, 2026, pp. 54–59. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009
Mohd Uvais. “One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 3, no. 5 (2026): 54–59. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009
Mohd Uvais (2026) ‘One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation’, Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3(5), pp. 54–59. Available at: https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009.
Mohd Uvais, “One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation,” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 54–59, 2026. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009.
Mohd Uvais. One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal. 2026;3(5):54–59. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009.
Mohd Uvais. One Nation, One Electoral Roll: Enhancing
Accessibility and Political Participation. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 2026, 3 (5), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i5009.
Data sharing is not applicable as no datasets were generated or analysed.
Author Contributions
The author solely conceived, researched and wrote the manuscript.
AI-use Declaration
AI tools were used only for language editing. The author verified all content.
Editorial record
Publisher's Note
The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author(s). Publication does not imply endorsement by the journal, editorial board or publisher. Responsibility for accuracy, originality and integrity remains with the author(s). Readers should independently evaluate and verify information before application or citation.
1. Austin, G. (1999). Working a democratic constitution: The Indian experience. Oxford University
Press.
2. Banerjee, A., & Pande, R. (2007). Parochial politics: Ethnic preferences and politician corruption.
Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
3. Basu, D. D. (2018). Introduction to the Constitution of India (23rd ed.). LexisNexis.
4. Brass, P. R. (2020). The politics of India since independence (3rd ed.). Cambridge University
Press.
5. Chhibber, P., & Verma, R. (2018). Ideology and identity: The changing party systems of India.
Oxford University Press.
6. Deshingkar, P., & Akter, S. (2009). Migration and human development in India. Human
Development Research Paper, 2009(13). UNDP.
7. Election Commission of India. (2019). Statistical report on general elections, 2019 to the Lok
Sabha.
8. Election Commission of India. (2024). National voters’ day 2024 report. https://eci.gov.in/
9. Fortier, J. C. (2006). Absentee and early voting: Trends, promises, and perils. American Enterprise
Institute.
10. Janssen, M., Charalabidis, Y., & Zuiderwijk, A. (2012). Benefits, adoption barriers and myths of
open data and open government. Information Systems Management, 29(4), 258-268.
11. Jayal, N. G. (2013). Citizenship and its discontents: An Indian history. Harvard University Press.
12. Kshetri, N., & Voas, J. (2018). Blockchain-enabled e-voting. IEEE Software, 35(4), 95-99.
13. Kumar, S., & Rai, P. (2012). Measuring voting behavior in India. Economic & Political Weekly,
47(43), 39-42.
14. Massicotte, L. (2003). Election law in democracies: A framework for comparative analysis. In R.
Lopez-Pintor & M. Gratschew (Eds.), Voter turnout since 1945: A global report (pp. 31-42).
International IDEA.
15. McDonald, M. P., & Popkin, S. L. (2001). The myth of the vanishing voter. American Political
Science Review, 95(4), 963-974.
16. Mitra, S. K., & Singh, V. B. (2014). When rebels become stakeholders: Democracy, agency and
social change in India. Sage Publications.
17. Narayanan, A., & Shmatikov, V. (2008). Robust de-anonymization of large sparse datasets. In
2008 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (pp. 111-125). IEEE.
18. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner. (2011). Census of India 2011: Migration
tables. Government of India.
19. Orr, G. (2015). The law of politics: Elections, parties and money in Australia. Federation Press.
20. Palshikar, S. (2022). Electoral reforms and democratic deepening in India. Studies in Indian
Politics, 10(1), 45-58.
21. Preibusch, S. (2013). Guide to measuring privacy concern: Review of survey and observational
instruments. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 71(12), 1133-1143.
22. Purtova, N. (2018). The law of everything: Broad concept of personal data and future of EU data
protection law. Law, Innovation and Technology, 10(1), 40-81.
23. Rai, S. M. (2017). Gender and the political economy of development. Polity Press.
24. Rao, M. G., & Singh, N. (2019). Indian fiscal federalism. Oxford University Press.
25. Saez, L., & Sinha, A. (2010). Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India,
1980-2000. British Journal of Political Science, 40(1), 91-113.
26. Singh, M. P. (2021). Indian political system (4th ed.). Pearson Education India.
27. Srinivasan, J., & Burrell, J. (2015). On the importance of price information to fishers and to
economists: Revisiting mobile phone use among fishers in Kerala. Information Technologies &
International Development, 11(1), 57-70.
28. Supreme Court of India. (2015). Election Commission of India v. State of Haryana. AIR 2015 SC
1540.
29. Tillin, L., & Pereira, A. (2017). Indian federalism. In A. Ayres & P. R. Brass (Eds.), Routledge
handbook of South Asian politics (pp. 145-158). Routledge.
30. Vassil, K., Solvak, M., Vinkel, P., Trechsel, A. H., & Alvarez, R. M. (2016). The diffusion of internet
voting: Usage patterns of internet voting in Estonia between 2005 and 2015. Government
Information Quarterly, 33(3), 453-459.
31. Yadav, Y. (2019). India’s third electoral system, 1989-2014. In F. Frankel, Z. Hasan, R. Bhargava,
& B. Arora (Eds.), Transforming India: Social and political dynamics of democracy (pp. 101-136).
Oxford University Press.
