The Election Commission has issued a fact sheet on the country’s electoral system. It said that elections to the offices of President and Vice President, the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies and Councils are conducted by an independent constitutional authority, the Election Commission of India.

Highlighting the system of voter identification, the Commission said polling in India is conducted on the basis of photo identity cards. It said Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) have been issued to nearly a billion electors, while voters can also download their electronic EPICs through the ECI’s voter services portal.

The poll panel said electoral rolls are prepared for each of the nearly 1.2 million polling booths by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are employees of state governments. These rolls are concurrently scrutinised by Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties. The ECI also pointed to the presence of representatives of candidates during polling as another layer of oversight.