Indonesia's Election Lessons for India

Election Overview in Indonesia and India’s ONOE Proposal

1. Indonesia's Elections:

   • 2019 Election: A historic one-day election for President, national and regional legislatures, and local councils led to nearly 900 poll worker deaths.
   • 2024 Election: Resulted in over 100 deaths and nearly 15,000 serious illnesses.
   • Constitutional Court Ruling (June 2025): Mandated that national and local elections must occur separately from 2029 onwards to improve voter and administrator overload.

2. India's 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE):

   • Objective: Synchronization of Lok Sabha (House of the People) and State Assembly elections to reduce costs and streamline administration.
   • Supporters' Arguments: Reduced expenditure, limited security deployment needs, minimized disruptions from Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and avoidance of a constant election campaign mode.
   • Cautionary Note: Indonesia's experience indicates risks associated with simultaneous elections.

3. Comparative Constitutional Practices:

   • Indications from other countries (Canada, Australia, Germany, South Africa, and the USA) show mixed practices regarding electoral synchronisation, often lacking support for enforced synchronization.

4. High-Level Committee Recommendations:

   • Proposed Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024.
   • Suggested Article 82A: President can notify an “appointed date” for aligning State Assembly tenures with Lok Sabha cycles.
   • Introduction of “unexpired-term elections” if a legislature is dissolved prematurely.
   • Proposed amendments to Articles 83, 172, and 327, raising constitutional concerns.

5. Constitutional Articles and Principles:

   • Article 75 (and Article 164): Establish collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature.
   • Article 83 & 172: Maximum tenure of five years for legislatures, not a guaranteed term; early dissolution viewed as a safeguard.
   • S.R. Bommai vs. Union of India (1994): Confirmed federalism as a basic structure of the Constitution; states have independent identities.

6. Implications of ONOE:

   • Risks conflating State and national electoral cycles, potentially mandating premature dissolution of State Assemblies.
   • Mid-term elections could lead to a "governance dead zone" and diluted electoral mandate.
   • Potential logistical issues, including limitations on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and challenges in maintaining fiscal governance.

7. Fiscal Considerations:

   • Election Costs: Estimated combined Lok Sabha and State Assembly election expenses historically at around ₹4,500 crore (2015-16), representing approximately 0.25% of the Union Budget/GDP.
   • Conducting elections in phases allows flexibility which may be compromised under ONOE.

8. Justice Kurian Joseph Committee:

   • Recommended withdrawal of the Bill, supporting the Tamil Nadu government’s stance against the ONOE proposal, emphasizing the overstated benefits and profound structural harms it entails.

9. Conclusion:

   • Amendments proposed under ONOE risk undermining India’s federalism and the Constitution’s identity, echoing warnings from historical precedents like Indonesia. It's crucial to evaluate the broader implications rather than simply viewing the electoral structure as a cost to minimize.