Election process of President of India

How president is elected?

The President of India is the head of state and the highest constitutional authority in India. The President is elected by an Electoral College comprising members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and the Legislative Assemblies of the States and Union Territories. The election process is conducted by the Election Commission of India, which is an independent constitutional body responsible for conducting free and fair elections in the country. Further we will discuss the election process of the President of India, including the eligibility criteria, the nomination process, the role of the Electoral College, and the role of the Election Commission of India.

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Eligibility criteria

According to Article 58 of the Indian Constitution, a person is eligible to be elected as the President of India if they meet the following criteria:

1. They must be a citizen of India.
2. They must have completed the age of 35 years.
3. They must be qualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
4. They must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or any state government.

Nomination process:

The nomination process for the President of India begins with the issuing of a notification by the Election Commission of India, which sets the dates for filing nominations, scrutiny of nominations, and withdrawal of candidature. Any citizen of India who meets the eligibility criteria can contest the election. The candidate must be nominated by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. The proposers and seconders must be members of the Electoral College, and no elector can propose or second more than one candidate.

The election process is initiated by the Election Commission of India, which issues a notification inviting nominations for the post of President. The notification specifies the last date for filing nominations and the date for the scrutiny of the nominations.

To be eligible for contesting the election, a candidate must be proposed by at least fifty electors and seconded by at least fifty other electors. The candidate must also make a security deposit of Rs. 15,000, which is refunded if the candidate secures at least one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled in the election.

Conditions for the Presidency

According to Article 59 of the Indian constitution, certain provisions exclude an otherwise qualified citizen from standing in the presidential elections. The stipulations are:

• The president should not be a member of either house of the parliament or a house of the legislature of any state. If a member of either house of the parliament or a house of the legislature of any state is elected president, he should be considered to have quit his seat in that house on the date on which he starts his office as president.

• The president should not enjoy any other office of profit.

• The president should be permitted without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and should be moreover entitled to such emoluments, grants and privileges as may be established by Parliament by law and until stipulation in that behalf is so made, such payments, grants, and privileges as are stipulated in the Second Schedule.

• The emoluments and grants of the president shall not be lessened throughout his term of office.

Role of the Electoral College:

The election process of the President of India is governed by the Constitution of India. According to Article 54 of the Constitution, the President is elected by an Electoral College consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. The President of India is elected by an Electoral College, which comprises the following members:

1. Elected members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha)
2. Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States
3. Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

The total strength of the Electoral College is 4,896, which includes 543 members of the Lok Sabha, 233 members of the Rajya Sabha, and 4,120 members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and Union Territories. Each member of the Electoral College has one vote, and the value of each vote is determined by dividing the total population of the country by the total number of members of the Electoral College. The value of each vote is currently around 708.

The election of the President is conducted through a system of proportional representation, which means that the candidate who secures a majority of votes cast is declared the winner. If no candidate secures a majority in the first round, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and the second preference votes of the electors who voted for the eliminated candidate are redistributed. This process is repeated until one candidate secures a majority.

Role of the Election Commission of India:

The Election Commission of India is responsible for conducting the election of the President of India. The Commission is an independent constitutional body that is responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections in the country. The Commission is composed of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, who are appointed by the President of India.

The Commission is responsible for ensuring that the election is conducted in a free and fair manner, and it has the power to disqualify any candidate who violates the election code of conduct. The Commission also issues guidelines and instructions for the conduct of the election, and it supervises the entire election process, from the filing of nominations to the declaration of results.

Voting Process

The voting process for the election of the President of India is conducted by means of a secret ballot. The members of the Electoral College cast their votes through a special pen and ballot paper.

The ballot paper contains the names of the candidates, their signatures, and the names of the proposers and seconders. The members of the Electoral College mark their preference by placing a cross (X) against the name of the candidate of their choice.

The voting process is conducted in the Parliament House in New Delhi and in the respective state legislative assemblies. The Election Commission appoints a Returning Officer for each state and union territory to conduct the election in that state or union territory.

• The authentic computation for votes cast by a specific state is estimated by dividing that state’s population by 1000, divided yet again by the number of legislators from the State casting vote in the Electoral College. This number represents the number of votes per legislator in a particular state. Each elected member of the parliament obtains the same number of votes, which might be attained by dividing the entire number of votes allotted to the members of legislative assemblies by the entire number of chosen representatives of the parliament.
• Though Indian presidential elections engage definite voting by MPs and MLAs, they are inclined to vote for the candidate sustained by their relevant parties.
• The election is contested in agreement with the scheme of proportional representation (PR) through the instant-runoff voting (IRV) scheme. The voting occurs via a secret ballot system. The mode of election of the President is granted by Article 55 of the constitution.
• Each elector casts a dissimilar number of votes. However, the common standard is that the total number of votes given by Members of parliament equals the entire number of votes cast by State Legislators. Moreover, legislators from larger states give more votes than those from smaller states. Lastly, the number of legislators in state influences; if a state has only some legislators, then each legislator has additional votes; if a state has several legislators, then every legislator has fewer votes.

Declaration of Results:

After the voting is complete, the ballot boxes are sealed and transported to the Parliament House in New Delhi. The counting of votes is conducted by the Returning Officer under the supervision of the Chief Election Commissioner.

The candidate who secures the majority of the valid votes is declared elected as the President of India. If no candidate secures a majority in the first round of voting, a second round of voting is held, in which the candidate who secures the majority of the valid votes is declared elected.

Conclusion

The election process of the President of India is a complex and elaborate process that involves various institutions and individuals. The process is governed by the Constitution of India and is conducted by the Election Commission of India. The eligibility criteria, nomination process, voting process, and declaration of results are all specified in the Constitution and are followed rigorously.

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