How Will Be The Next Vice President Elected? Date, Process, and Result Calculation

On September 9, India's Members of Parliament will undertake a critical constitutional duty: electing the next Vice President of India. This election, following the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, is not a simple majority vote. It entails a special and complex procedure intended to guarantee that a candidate with widespread support prevails. This is a comprehensive guide to the date, the voting process, and the outcome.

When is the Vice President Election Date?

The election for the 15th Vice President of India is officially scheduled for Sunday, September 9. On this day, all elected and nominated members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will convene to cast their votes.

Who Votes in the Vice Presidential Election?

Unlike general elections, the common public does not vote. The Vice President is elected by an Electoral College that consists exclusively of:

• Members of the Lok Sabha (543)
• Members of the Rajya Sabha (245)

This brings the total strength of the Electoral College to 788 MPs. Nominated members from both houses are also eligible to vote in this election.

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How is the Voting Done?

The voting process is distinct and designed for precision:

• Ballot Paper: The election uses a special pink-coloured ballot paper.
• Preference Marking: The ballot has two columns. The first lists the names of the candidates (NDA's CP Radhakrishnan and the opposition's B. Sudershan Reddy). The second column is for the MP to mark their order of preference (1, 2, 3, etc.) for each candidate.
• The Special Pen: To prevent any invalid votes, the Election Commission supplies a particular pen at the polling station. MPs must use only this pen to mark their ballot; using any other pen could lead to the vote being rejected.

What is the "Single Transferable Vote" System?

This is the core of the election process. It is a system of proportional representation that requires voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than just choosing one. Each MP must mark their preferences. They assign the number '1' to their most preferred candidate, '2' to their second choice, and so on. This system ensures that votes are not wasted. Voters' votes are moved to their second preference if their first option is removed, and so on.

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How is the Result Calculated?

The winner is not the candidate with the most first-preference votes. A candidate must meet a certain quota in order to be deemed elected.

To calculate the quota, a precise formula is employed:

Quota = (Total number of valid votes polled / 2) + 1

For example, if all 788 MPs cast a valid vote, the quota needed to win would be:

(788 / 2) + 1 = 394 + 1 = 395 votes.

How is the Vote Counted?

Vote counting is a painstaking, multi-step procedure:

• First Count: Each candidate's first-preference votes, or all "1s," are counted by the returning officer.
• If a candidate secures first-preference votes equal to or greater than the quota, they are immediately declared elected.
• Elimination and Transfer Rounds (If needed): (The elimination procedure starts if no contender meets the quota in the first round)
• The candidate with the lowest number of first-preference votes is eliminated.
• Each ballot belonging to the eliminated candidate is carefully reviewed, and the votes are then redistributed to the remaining contenders based on the next available preference marked as ‘2’.
• Ballot papers where no further preference is marked are set aside as "exhausted."

Subsequent Rounds: This process continues, eliminating the lowest-ranked candidate and transferring their votes, until one candidate finally secures the required quota.

This careful redistribution means that, even without universal first-choice support, the result is still broadly representative of the electorate.

The results are expected to be declared on the same day, September 9, after the counting process is completed. According to Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission of India is in charge of the entire procedure.