This section covers all kinds of election cheating, like bribery or fake voter lists.

This section only sets the punishment for two specific offences — undue influence and personation — which are defined in other sections. Other electoral crimes, like bribery, are punished under separate provisions.

Only the person who casts the fake vote can be punished.

'Undue influence' can apply to a person who pressures or threatens a voter even if that person never personally casts a fraudulent vote themselves.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 174

Punishment for undue influence or personation at an election

Whoever commits the offence of undue influence or personation at an election shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.§

Why this exists

Free and fair elections depend on voters being able to cast their ballot without fear, force, or fraud. Indian criminal law has long treated interference with the voting process as a serious wrong — this provision continues a rule that first appeared in the Indian Penal Code (as Section 171F) and was carried into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It exists specifically to deter two named electoral wrongs: coercing or unduly pressuring voters, and impersonating a voter to cast a fraudulent ballot.

Common misconceptions

Myth: This section covers all kinds of election cheating, like bribery or fake voter lists.
Fact: This section only sets the punishment for two specific offences — undue influence and personation — which are defined in other sections. Other electoral crimes, like bribery, are punished under separate provisions.
Myth: Only the person who casts the fake vote can be punished.
Fact: 'Undue influence' can apply to a person who pressures or threatens a voter even if that person never personally casts a fraudulent vote themselves.