India will have its Presidential Elections on July 19th. The votes will be counted on July 22nd on which day the 13th President of India will be announced. Everyone is discussing the candidature of the current finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who is being supported by the ruling UPA coalition and P. Sangma, former speaker of the Lok Sabha being supported by most members of the opposition NDA.
Interestingly not many know how exactly the elections are held and how the President is elected. Most of us are aware that voting is done by elected members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Legislatures. Not many are aware as to what happens after that.
The voting methodology is pretty straight forward. All elected members get 1 ballot to select their choice for President. They have the option of giving a 2nd, 3rd, ... choice based on the number of candidates running for the election. Each ballot represents a certain number of votes. For the 2012 election each ballot cast by elected members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha represents 708 votes.
The value of each ballot of the State Legislative Assembly and Union Territories is different for each one. The highest value is for Uttar Pradesh at 208 and the least for Sikkim at 7.The values for each state can be seen at the Election Commission of India's website
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/President_VP_Elec2012/DirectionsNumber_Votes.pdf
The question that comes to mind is how exactly are these numbers arrived at. Like most things in life this too is pretty simple. The first rule used is that the total value of votes of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members will be the same as i.e. equal to the value of the cobined votes of all the State and Union Territories Legislative Assembly members.
The value of each member of the State Legislative Assemblies is calculated by dividing the population of the State by the total number of elected members. The quotient is then divided by 1,000. The total value of all members of each State is then totalled. This number is then divided by the total number of elected members of the Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (233).
The slight disappointment is that the population is taken as per the 1971 census and this has changed, albeit not significantly enough to make a major difference to the relative allotment of votes or to the final results of the Elections.
The Election Commission of India has a very simple and easy to understand FAQ on the Presidential Election.
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/President_VP_Elec2012/Presidential_Elections-FAQ.pdf
The other interesting aspect of the Presidential Election is that in case there are 3 or more candidates, then there is a first round of counting. In the event that a candidate secures more than 50% of the valid and eligible votes cast, then s/he is declared elected. Else, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and a count of votes cast for that candidate is added to the 2nd choice if marked on those ballot papers. At each stage its checked if the leading candidate has secured more than 50% of the votes, elese the process continues till a candidate secures more than 50% of the votes or there is just 1 candidate left.
And thus is the President of the country elected.
Interestingly not many know how exactly the elections are held and how the President is elected. Most of us are aware that voting is done by elected members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Legislatures. Not many are aware as to what happens after that.
The voting methodology is pretty straight forward. All elected members get 1 ballot to select their choice for President. They have the option of giving a 2nd, 3rd, ... choice based on the number of candidates running for the election. Each ballot represents a certain number of votes. For the 2012 election each ballot cast by elected members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha represents 708 votes.
The value of each ballot of the State Legislative Assembly and Union Territories is different for each one. The highest value is for Uttar Pradesh at 208 and the least for Sikkim at 7.The values for each state can be seen at the Election Commission of India's website
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/President_VP_Elec2012/DirectionsNumber_Votes.pdf
The question that comes to mind is how exactly are these numbers arrived at. Like most things in life this too is pretty simple. The first rule used is that the total value of votes of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members will be the same as i.e. equal to the value of the cobined votes of all the State and Union Territories Legislative Assembly members.
The value of each member of the State Legislative Assemblies is calculated by dividing the population of the State by the total number of elected members. The quotient is then divided by 1,000. The total value of all members of each State is then totalled. This number is then divided by the total number of elected members of the Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (233).
The slight disappointment is that the population is taken as per the 1971 census and this has changed, albeit not significantly enough to make a major difference to the relative allotment of votes or to the final results of the Elections.
The Election Commission of India has a very simple and easy to understand FAQ on the Presidential Election.
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/President_VP_Elec2012/Presidential_Elections-FAQ.pdf
The other interesting aspect of the Presidential Election is that in case there are 3 or more candidates, then there is a first round of counting. In the event that a candidate secures more than 50% of the valid and eligible votes cast, then s/he is declared elected. Else, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and a count of votes cast for that candidate is added to the 2nd choice if marked on those ballot papers. At each stage its checked if the leading candidate has secured more than 50% of the votes, elese the process continues till a candidate secures more than 50% of the votes or there is just 1 candidate left.
And thus is the President of the country elected.
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