Election of the President

1.1 Who elects the President of India?

An electoral college elects the President. The public does not vote directly. Article 54 names two groups of voters:

• the elected members of both Houses of Parliament
• the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States

For this purpose, “State” includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territory of Puducherry. That Explanation was added by the Seventieth Amendment Act, 1992, in force from 1 June 1995.

1.2 Who is left out of the college?

Nominated members are left out. The Election Commission’s 2022 press note says nominated members of Parliament and of the Assemblies are not in the college. Members of the Legislative Councils are not electors either.

The reason is in the Article itself. It says “elected members”, so a nominated member has no vote.

1.3 Where does the voting happen?

The poll is taken in Parliament House and in the premises of the State Legislative Assemblies. Each elector votes at the place the Commission names.

1.4 What is a common slip?

Students think every MP and MLA votes. Only elected ones do. A nominated Rajya Sabha member has no vote.

2.1 Why does one MLA’s vote count more than another’s?

The Constitution wants a fair scale. Article 55 asks for a uniform scale of representation for the States. It also wants parity between the States as a whole and the Union.

So a State with few MLAs and a large population gives each MLA a bigger vote. That keeps big and small States on an equal footing.

2.2 How is an MLA’s vote worked out?

Article 55(2) gives three steps:

• Divide the State’s population by the number of its elected MLAs.
• Count the multiples of one thousand in the answer. Each multiple is one vote.
• If the remainder is 500 or more, add one more vote.

Here is our own example with made-up numbers. A State has 40,00,000 people and 80 elected MLAs. The answer is 50,000. That is 50 multiples of one thousand, so each MLA has 50 votes.

Take another made-up answer, 12,600. It has 12 multiples of one thousand. The remainder is 600, which is not less than 500. So each MLA has 13 votes.

2.3 How is an MP’s vote worked out?

Add up the votes of all the State MLAs. Then divide by the number of elected MPs of both Houses. A fraction above one-half counts as one. Other fractions are dropped.

This is why every elected MP has the same vote value, in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

2.4 Do the two halves really match?

They come very close. In 2022 the MLAs had 543,231 votes in all and the MPs had 543,200. Together that was 1,086,431.

2.5 Which census does the formula use?

It uses the 1971 census for now. The Article says the 1971 census applies until the first census after 2026 is published. The Eighty-fourth Amendment Act, 2001, changed that year from 2000 to 2026.

2.6 What is a common slip?

Students think more seats mean a bigger vote value. The Article works the other way. The population is divided by the number of seats, so the ratio decides.

3.1 How does an elector mark the ballot?

The elector writes preferences against the candidates’ names, in figures. The first preference is compulsory. The others are optional.

The Commission supplies a special pen. A vote marked with any other pen is invalid at counting.

3.2 When is a ballot paper invalid?

The rules list the cases:

• the figure 1 is not marked
• the figure 1 is marked against more than one candidate
• any mark could identify the elector

Each valid paper counts as many votes as the elector’s value, from the Commission’s statement.

3.3 How is the winner found?

First find the quota. Add up the first-preference votes, divide by two and add one. Ignore any remainder. A candidate who reaches the quota is elected.

Our own illustration: if all 1,086,431 votes were valid first preferences, half would be 543,215 after dropping the remainder. Add one and the quota would be 543,216.

3.4 What if nobody reaches the quota?

The candidate with the fewest votes is excluded. The next preferences on those papers move to the other candidates. The count repeats until someone reaches the quota or only one candidate is left.

3.5 Can a party tell its members how to vote?

No. The Commission says political parties cannot issue any whip in this election. It also says there is no open voting. The ballot is secret.

3.6 What is a common slip?

Students call this first-past-the-post. It is not. The most first preferences are not enough unless they reach the quota.

4.1 What must a candidate be?

Article 58 sets three tests. A candidate must be a citizen of India. The candidate must have completed thirty-five years. The candidate must also be qualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha.

A person holding an office of profit under a government or local authority is not eligible. Being President, Vice-President, Governor or a Minister does not count as such an office.

4.2 Can a sitting MP stand?

Yes. Article 59 says the President shall not be a member of either House or of a State Legislature. A member who is elected President is treated as having left the seat on the day he enters office.

4.3 Can a President stand again?

Yes. Article 57 says a person who holds or has held the office is eligible for re-election, subject to the rest of the Constitution.

4.4 What does a nomination need?

The 1952 election Act sets the list:

• at least fifty electors as proposers and fifty as seconders
• a certified copy of the candidate’s entry in the electoral roll
• a deposit of fifteen thousand rupees

The figure of fifty replaced ten through Act 35 of 1997, in force from 5 June 1997.

4.5 When is the deposit lost?

It is forfeited if the candidate is not elected and gets valid votes not above one-sixth of the number needed to win.

4.6 What is a common slip?

Students think an MP cannot contest. An MP can contest. The seat is vacated only if the MP is elected.

5.1 How long is the term?

The term is five years from the day the President enters office. The President may resign by writing to the Vice-President. Impeachment under Article 61 can also remove the President.

5.2 What if the successor is not ready?

The President stays on. Article 56 says the President continues in office after the term ends, until the successor enters upon his office.

5.3 When must the election be held?

Article 62(1) says the election must be completed before the term ends. The Act asks for the notification on or after the sixtieth day before the term ends.

If the office falls vacant by death, resignation or removal, the election must be held as soon as possible. It can never be later than six months. The new President then holds office for the full five years.

5.4 What happened in 2022?

Ram Nath Kovind’s term was due to end on 24 July 2022. The Commission’s schedule was:

• 15 June: notification
• 29 June: last date for nominations
• 18 July: poll, if needed
• 21 July: counting, if needed

The Commission appoints the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, by rotation, as Returning Officer.

5.5 Who gives the oath?

Article 60 says the oath is made in the presence of the Chief Justice of India. If he is absent, the senior-most Judge of the Supreme Court available gives it.

5.6 What is a common slip?

Students think the office stays empty if the new President is not ready. It does not. The old President continues until the successor takes over.

6.1 Who settles disputes about the election?

The Supreme Court does. Article 71(1) says all doubts and disputes about the election are inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court. Its decision is final.

The Act repeats this. The authority to try an election petition is the Supreme Court.

6.2 Who can file a petition, and by when?

Any candidate can. So can twenty or more electors joined together. For the Vice-President the number is ten.

The petition must come after the result is published, and within thirty days of publication.

6.3 When will the Court declare the election void?

The Act gives the grounds. The Court declares it void if the returned candidate committed bribery or undue influence, or had it done with consent.

The result being materially affected by non-compliance with the Constitution, the Act or the rules is another ground.

6.4 What happens to earlier decisions of a President whose election is voided?

They stay valid. Article 71(2) says acts done on or before the date of the Supreme Court’s decision are not invalidated.

6.5 Can a vacancy in the college be a ground?

No. Article 71(4) says the election shall not be called in question on the ground of any vacancy among the members of the electoral college. Article 71(3) lets Parliament regulate such matters by law.

Our own reading ties this to Article 62(1): the election must be completed on time, even if some seats in the college are vacant.

6.6 What is a common slip?

Students think a High Court can hear these cases. The Act names only the Supreme Court as the authority.

7.1 How does the Vice-President’s election differ?

The voters are different. Article 66 says the Vice-President is elected by an electoral college of the members of both Houses of Parliament. No State Assembly member votes.

The Article says “members”, not “elected members”. Our own reading is that nominated MPs are included.

Before the Eleventh Amendment Act, 1961 (in force from 19 December 1961) the two Houses met in a joint meeting.

7.2 What else differs?

The table is our own summary of Articles 54, 55, 58, 66 and the 1952 Act.

7.3 What is a common slip?

Students think the same college picks the Vice-President. It does not. That college is smaller.

8.1 What did UPSC ask?

8.2 Which Article does what?

The Articles are from the pocket edition of the Constitution cited in this lesson.