India General Election 2009

India General Election 2009
The Lok Sabha consists of 552 members, comprising 530 members who represent the States, up to 20 members who stand for the Union Territories and 2 members from the Anglo-Indian Community who are nominated by the President, if they are not adequately represented. The people of India directly elect the members of the Lok Sabha. A policy of adult franchise through a secret ballot is exercised in elections in India. Recently the system of electronic voting has been introduced to enable a more economic and fair election process. Each state has a fixed number of seats allotted and each Lok Sabha seat has a clearly defined area. The electoral machinery is centralized in an independent statutory body called the Election Commission. The Commission is responsible for the 'superintendence, direction and control' of the electoral rolls for all elections to Parliament and to the State Legislatures and also for conducting the elections.