Presidential Election 2017 is going to be the next big thing in Indian politics. The countdown for India’s top post has begun as President Pranab Mukherjee’s term is ending on July 25. With speculations going around the Bjp's president candidate Mr. Ramnath kovind ,presidential election is all set to take place in India on 17 July 2017, and counting will be done on 20 July 2017, five days before the incumbent President's term expires.
Who elects the president?
Article 54 of the Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about voters in a Presidential election. All MPs and MLAs Form the electoral college for election of president. Nominated members of parliament and legislative assembly can't vote in this election.
Eligibility to be the President of India
The following are the mandatory requirements for anyone to contest the election for the President of India.
- Must be a citizen of India
- Must have completed 35 years of age
- Must be eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
- Must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local government (Exceptions are the offices of President and Vice-President, Governor of any State and Ministers of Union or State)
The one major difference between any normal general election and the Presidential election is the differential value of votes of various electors (voters). In any normal election, the value of the vote of every citizen is the same. His/her vote is counted as one vote. But in the Presidential election, the value of the MP vote is different from the value of a MLA vote. Not just that, the value of a MLA vote from one state differs from the value of the MLA vote of another state. The value of all the votes put together is the value of the voters for the election. Before each such election, the Election Commission notifies the total value of all the votes based on vacancies etc at that point in time.The value of votes of electors (voters) is basically determined on the basis of population of the States. Since population figures are dynamic and keep changing every year, it has been decided through the 84th constitutional amendment , that until the population figures for the first census after 2026 are published (in other words, 2031 census), the population of the States for the purpose of this calculation will mean the population as per the 1971 census.
Proportional Representation: Proportional Representation is an electoral system designed to represent in a legislative body each political group or party in proportion to its actual voting strength in the electorate. To understand how it works please understand the methods to count & use Value of an M.L.A. Vote & Value of an M.P. Vote.
Value of an M.L.A. Vote:
The value of an M.L.A. Vote = [(Total population of state or U.T.)] / [(Total number of elected members of the Legislative Assembly) * 1000]
Let us take Uttarakhand state for illustration :
- Name of the State/Union Territory: Uttarakhand
- Number of Legislative Assembly seats (elective): 70
- Population (1971 Census): 4,491,239
- Value of the vote of each MLA: 64 (4491239/70000)
- Total value of votes for the State/Union Territory: 4480 (64 * 70)
So, in approximate terms, total value of votes for a State/Union Territory is proportional to its population according to the 1971 census.
Value of an M.P. Vote
The Value of an M.P. Vote = [(The sum of vote value of elected members of all the legislative assemblies)] / [(The sum of elected members of both the houses of Parliament)]
- The sum of vote value of elected members of all the legislative assemblies (of all the State or Union Territory) = 549474
- The sum of elected members of both the houses of Parliament = Lok Sabha (543) + Rajya Sabha (233) = 776
- The value of each vote of an M.P. = 549474 / 776 = 708 (approx.)
- The total value of votes of the Rajya Sabha = 233 * 708 = 164964
- The total value of votes of the Lok Sabha = 543 * 708 = 384444
- The total value of votes of the Parliament = 776 × 708 = 164964 + 384444 = 549408
So, in approximate terms, the total value of votes of the Parliament is almost equal to the total value of votes of all the legislative assemblies (of all the State or Union Territory).
- Total number of electors of Legislative Assemblies (elected) = 4120
- Total value of votes of Legislative Assemblies = 549,474
- Total number of electors of Parliament (elected) = 776
- Total value of votes of Parliament = 549,408
- Total number of electors = 4896
- Total value of votes of all Electors (i.e. the Electoral College) = 1,098,882
The Election Process
A ballot paper is given to each voter with the names of the contesting candidates, green ballot paper for MPs & Pink ballot paper for MLAs. This election happens through the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Hence each voter can mark as many preferences, as the number of candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the voter, by marking the figures 1,2,3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the candidates, in the order of preference.
The concept of single transferable vote is same as rajya sabha election. Unlike the general election counting, where an MP or an MLA is elected through ‘first past the post’ system, the winner in Presidential election is declared on the basis of a quote which is obtained by dividing the total number of valid votes by 2, and adding 1 to quotient (total number of valid votes/2+1).
Let’s understand this in detail:
For example, if there are three candidates – A, B and, C and 10 valid votes are casted. The winner in this case will require 10/2 + 1 = 6 votes
Case 1: i) A gets 6 votes as 1st preference
i) A gets 6 votes as 1st preference
ii) B gets 3 votes as 1st preference
iii)C gets 1 votes as 1st preference
iii)C gets 1 votes as 1st preference
In this scenario, A will be declared as the winner for clearing the quota.
Case 2: i) A gets 5 votes as 1st preference
ii) B gets 3 votes as 1st preference
iii)C gets 2 votes as 1st preference
ii) B gets 3 votes as 1st preference
iii)C gets 2 votes as 1st preference
In this scenario, candidate C will get eliminated and the second preference of the two voters, who opted for C as their first preferences, would be added to the total first preference votes of the remaining two candidates.
If A clears the quota at this stage, then s/he will become the President. If not, the process would be repeated until one candidate emerges as the clear winner by getting the required quota of votes
