An Election Commission was set up to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner. Making arrangements for the first elections was a large and complex task. First, a house-to-house survey was carried out to register the eligible voters.
People who contested elections belonged to political parties or were Independents. Election Commission gave a symbol to each of these candidates. These symbols were painted on the ballot boxes in which the votes had to be cast. The voters had to put their ballot paper into the box of the candidate they wanted to vote for. Screens were set up so that the voting (ballot) was secret.
Over 2,24,000 polling booths were set up across the country. Over 25,00,000 steel ballot boxes were made. Nearly 62,00,00,000 ballot papers were printed. About 10 lakh officials supervised the polls. Nearly 17,500 candidates had contested the elections across the country. Finally, 489 people were elected to the first Lok Sabha. The elections were conducted in a fair, free, impartial, and orderly manner, with very little violence. So we can say that the first elections were a large and complex task.
