Elections to choose the 15th President of India are underway (18th of July). The fight for the top job is between BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu and the opposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha. The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25. This high profile election coincided with the first day of parliament’s monsoon session, which is expected to continue till 12th of the next month.

The President is elected by the members of the Electoral College comprising elected members of the both houses of parliament- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and also the members of the legislative assembly all states including national capital territory of Delhi and union territory of Puducherry. In presidential election, no party issues a whip for the voting. Presidential Elections 2022: Voting Ends As MPs and MLAs Cast Vote to Elect New President of India; Counting of Votes and Results on July 21.

As per article 62 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of the outgoing President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.

As per the article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by the members of the Electoral College. However, the nominated members of either Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha or legislative assemblies of the states are not eligible to be included in the electoral college and therefore, they are not entitled to participate in the election. Similarly, members of the legislative councils are also not electors for the presidential election.

The constitution has expressly provided that election to the office of President shall be by secret ballot. Therefore, the electors are expected to scrupulously maintain secrecy of vote. There is no concept of open voting in this election and showing the ballot to anyone under any circumstances in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections is totally prohibited.

Voting procedure laid down in the 1974 rules provides that after marking the vote in the Voting Compartment, the elector is required to fold the ballot paper and insert it in the Ballot Box. Any violation of the voting procedure entails cancellation of the ballot paper by the Presiding Officer. It is also clarified that political parties cannot issue any whip to their MPs and MLAs in the matter of voting in the Presidential election.

A room in the Parliament House in New Delhi and a room in all State Legislative Assembly Secretariats are generally designated as places of poll. The Members of Parliament normally vote in New Delhi and the members of the State Legislative Assemblies, including the members of the Legislative Assemblies of NCT of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry, normally vote at the place fixed in each state capital.

However, facilities are provided by the Election Commission for any member of parliament to vote in the capital of his state and similarly if any member of any State Legislative Assembly unavoidably stays in Delhi on the date of poll, he is given the facility to vote at the polling booth set up in the Parliament House. However, due intimation of such intention to vote at a place other than the place where a member is designated to vote must be received in the Election Commission well in advance to make necessary arrangements.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2022 06:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).