Presidential Polls 2022

  • June 10, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Presidential Polls 2022

Subject: Polity

Section: President

Context: The Election Commission on Thursday announced that the Presidential election would be held on July 18 and counting of votes, if required, would be held on Ju­ly 21.

Concept:

  • President Ram Nath Ko­vind’s term ends on July 24.
  • Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commission­er said the noti­fication would be issued on June 15 and the last date for nominations would be June 29.
  • The date for scrutiny of candidature would be June 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature would be July 2.
  • The electoral college for the poll will comprise 4,809 members — 233 Rajya Sabha and 543 Lok Sabha members and 4,033 MLAs of the Assemblies of the States and the Union Territories of Del­hi and Puducherry.
  • The total value of votes will be 10,86,431 (5,43,200 for MPs or 700 votes each and 5,43,231 for MLAs based on the 1971 Census population figures).
  • The MLAs of J&K are no longer part of the Electoral College.
  • Each can­didate would require 50 members of the Electoral col­lege to propose their name and another 50 to second it.
  • The polling would be carried out in the Parliament House for MPs and at the respective State Assemblies for MLAs, with the Rajya Sabha Secre­tary General declared as the Returning Officer.

President

Under the Constitution of India, there shall always be a President of India (Article 52 of the Constitution). He holds the highest elective office in the country and is elected in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Presidential and vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952. The said Act is supplemented by the provisions of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974, and the said Act under Rules form a complete Code regulating all aspects of conduct of elections to the Office of the President.

Who elects the President of India?

The President is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. [Article 54 of the Constitution of India]

What is the term of the office of the President?

The President shall hold office for a term of 5 years from the date on which he enters upon his office. He shall, however, continue to hold office notwithstanding the expiry of his term, until his successor enters upon his office. [Article 56 of the Constitution of India]

When is the election of the Office of President of India held?

Under the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the notification calling the election to the office of the President can be issued by the Election Commission on any day within the period of sixty days before the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing President. The election schedule shall be so fixed, that the President-elect is able to enter upon his office on the day following the expiry of the term of the outgoing President.

Who conducts the election to the Office of President of India?

Under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the authority to conduct elections to the Office of President is vested in the Election Commission of India.

How is the President elected?

  • The Indian President is elected through an electoral college system, wherein the votes are cast by national and State-level lawmakers.
  • The elections are conducted and overseen by the Election Commission (EC) of India.
  • The electoral college is made up of all the elected members of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs), and the elected Members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories (MLAs).
  • Related Constitutional Provisions:
    • Article 54: Election of President
    • Article 55: Manner of election of President.
    • Article 56 :Term of office of President
    • Article 57: Eligibility for re-election.
    • Article 58: Qualifications for election as President

Procedure

  • Before the voting, comes the nomination stage, where the candidate intending to stand in the election, files the nomination along with a signed list of 50 proposers and 50 seconders.
  • These proposers and seconders can be anyone from the total members of the electoral college from the State and national level.
  • The rule for securing 50 proposers and seconders was implemented when the EC noticed, in 1974, that several candidates, many without even a bleak chance of winning, would file their nominations to contest the polls.
  • An elector cannot propose or second the nomination of more than one candidate.

What is the value of each vote and how is it calculated?

  • A vote cast by each MP or MLA is not calculated as one vote.
  • The fixed value of each vote by an MP of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha is 708.
  • Meanwhile, the vote value of each MLA differs from State to State based on a calculation that factors in its population vis-a-vis the number of members in its legislative Assembly.
  • The value of each MLAs vote is determined by dividing the population of the State by the number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly, and the quotient achieved is further divided by 1000.

What is required to secure a victory?

  • A nominated candidate does not secure victory based on a simple majority but through a system of bagging a specific quota of votes.
  • While counting, the EC totals up all the valid votes cast by the electoral college through paper ballots and to win, the candidate must secure 50% of the total votes cast + 1.
  • Unlike general elections, where electors vote for a single party’s candidate, the voters of the electoral college write the names of candidates on the ballot paper in the order of preference.
  • The President’s election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot.
Polity Presidential Polls 2022