Consider the following Election Reforms in India and arrange them in correct chronological order starting from the earliest to th…

Question

Consider the following Election Reforms in India and arrange them in correct chronological order starting from the earliest to the last.

1. Voters photo identity card

2. Electronic voting machine

3. Voter verifiable paper audit trail

4. NOTA

Select the correct answer from the code given below:

1. A. 2, 1, 3, 4 (Correct answer)
2. B. 1, 2, 4, 3
3. C. 1, 2, 3, 4
4. D. 2, 1, 4, 3

Correct Answer

Option A — 2, 1, 3, 4

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 2, 1, 3, 4.

Key Points

• 2. Electronic voting machine — first used in 1982, at Paravur in Kerala.
• 1. Voters photo identity card (EPIC) — introduced in 1993, under Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan.
• 3. Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) — introduced in 2013, first used in Noksen, Nagaland.
• 4. NOTA — introduced in 2013, following the Supreme Court's judgment in *PUCL v. Union of India* (September 2013).
• Order: 2 → 1 → 3 → 4, option (a).

Additional Information

• EVMs were used in a full state election for the first time in 1998 and nationwide in the 2004 general election. They are manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited.
• VVPAT allows a voter to verify the vote through a printed slip visible for seven seconds; slips from a fixed number of randomly selected polling stations per assembly segment are counted and matched with EVM results.
• NOTA — "None of the Above" — gives the voter the right to reject all candidates while preserving the secrecy of the ballot. It has no electoral value: even if NOTA polls the most votes, the candidate with the highest votes among the rest is declared elected.
• Other major electoral reforms: voting age lowered to 18 by the 61st Amendment (1988), mandatory disclosure of criminal antecedents and assets in affidavits, and the Model Code of Conduct.