CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA The President of India is elected by the Members of an Electoral College consisting of (a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and (b) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry vide the Constitution (Seventieth Amendment) Act, 1992, (Article 54). The nominated members of either House of Parliament or the Legislative Assemblies of State are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College. Vide Section 2 of the Constitution (Seventieth Amendment) Act, 1992, an amendment was made to the EXPLANATION below article 54 of the Constitution. The amended Explanation is as under:- "Explanation" - In this Article and in Article 55 “State” includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry”. That amendment came into force w.e.f. 1st June, 1995, by the notification G.S.R. No. 375(E) dated 2nd May, 1995 issued by Ministry of Law, Justice & Company Affairs, New Delhi. The Electoral College for the ensuing Presidential Election shall now consist of (a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and (b) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States including NCT of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry. The Constitution also stipulates that there shall be uniformity, as far as practicable, in the scale of representation of the different States at the election (Article 55). For securing such uniformity among the States inter-se as well as parity between the States as a whole and the Union, a formula based on the population of each State is given in the Constitution for determination of the value of vote which each elected Member of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly of each State is entitled to cast. The Constitution (Eighty-fourth) Amendment Act, 2001 provides that until the relevant population figures for the first census to be taken after the year 2026 have been published, the population of the States for the purposes of calculation of value of votes for the Presidential Election shall mean the population as ascertained at the 1971-census. ILLUSTRATION Total population of Andhra Pradesh (1971 census) : 43,502,708 Total No of elective seats in the State Assembly : 294 No. of votes for each member : 43,502,708 1000 x 294 = 147.96 or 148 Total Value of votes of all members of each State Assembly is worked out by multiplying the number of elective seats in the Assembly by the number of votes for each member, e.g., 294x148=43,512 for Andhra Pradesh. The total value of votes of all the States added together is divided by the total number of elected members of Parliament (Lok Sabha 543 + Rajya Sabha 233) to get the value of votes per each Member of Parliament. The election shall be held in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. SYSTEM OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION BY MEANS OF SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE - DETAILED PROCEDURE The manner of voting at Presidential Election is contained in Rule 17 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974. The ballot paper does not contain any election symbol. There will be two columns in the ballot paper. Column 1 of the ballot paper contains the heading "Name of Candidate" and column 2 contains the heading "Mark order of preference". Each Elector shall have as many preferences as there are candidates, but no ballot paper shall be considered invalid solely on the ground that all such preferences are not marked. An elector in giving his vote shall place the figure 1 in the space opposite the name of the candidate whom he chooses for his first preference and may, in addition, mark as many subsequent preferences as he wishes by placing on his ballot paper the figures 2,3,4 and so on in the spaces opposite the names of other candidates, in order of preference. The figures may be marked in the international form of Indian numerals or in the Roman form or in the form used in any Indian language BUT SHALL NOT BE INDICATED IN WORDS. __VALUE OF VOTES__ The value of vote of each elector is pre-determined and varies for the Members of each Legislative Assembly. While counting the votes, the Returning Officer counts the votes State wise in so far as the votes are cast by the members of each Legislative Assembly, and in one lot that of Members of Parliament. The Returning Officer scrutinizes the ballot papers first and if found valid, puts the valid ballot paper in the Tray meant for the candidate to whom the first preference was marked. After distributing the ballot papers of one State, the R.O. totals the valid ballot 3 2 papers credited to each candidate and these totals are multiplied by the value of each vote and that total is credited to the candidate as the total value of votes secured. After so distributing the valid ballot papers polled by members of each State Legislative Assembly and the Members of the Parliament, the R.O. totals up the value of valid votes secured by each candidates. QUOTA FOR ELECTION After calculating the total value of votes polled by each candidate, the Returning Officer totals up the value of all valid votes polled. The quota for declaring a candidate as elected is determined by dividing the total value of valid votes by 2 and adding one to the quotient, ignoring the remainder, if any. For example, assuming the total value of valid votes polled by all candidates is 1,00,001. The quota required for getting elected is: - 1,00,001 + 1 = 50,000.50 + 1 (Ignore.50) 2 Quota = 50,000+1 = 50,001. After ascertaining the quota, the Returning Officer has to see whether any candidate secured the quota for being declared as elected on the basis of the total value of first preference votes polled by him/her. If no candidate gets the quota on the basis of first preference votes, then the Returning Officer proceeds further to second round of counting during which the candidate having lowest value of votes of first preference is excluded and his votes are distributed among the remaining candidates according to the second preference marked on these ballot papers. The other continuing candidates receive the votes of excluded candidate at the same value at which he/she received them in the first round of counting. The Returning Officer will go on excluding the candidates with lowest number of votes in subsequent rounds of counting till either one of the continuing candidates gets the required quota or till only one candidate remains in the field as the continuing candidate and shall declare him/her as elected. __ELIGIBILITY FOR ELECTION__ No person shall be eligible for election as President unless he - (1) is a citizen of India; (2) has completed the age of 35 years; and (3) is qualified for election as a member of the House of the People (Article 58). A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any Local or other Authority subject to the control of any of the State Governments. However, a person shall not be deemed to hold any office of profit by reason only that he is the President or Vice-President of the Union or the Governor of any State or is a Minister either for the Union or for any State. Detailed provisions regarding the election are contained in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 (No.31 of 1952) and the rules made thereunder, viz., "The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974".