New Delhi: The 16th Vice-Presidential election will be held on August 6, 2022.
The Election Commission, which met today under the Chairmanship of Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner of India, finalised the schedule of election for the Office of the Vice-President of India.
The term of office of M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice-President of India, is ending on August 10, 2022. As per Article 68 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.
As per Article 66 of the Constitution of India, the Vice-President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. For 2022, 16th Vice-Presidential Election, the Electoral College consists of:
- 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha,
- 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha, and
- 543 elected members of Lok Sabha.
Electoral College comprises a total of 788 members of both Houses of Parliament. Since all the electors are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of the vote of each Member of Parliament would be the same i.e.1 (one).
Article 66 (1) of the Constitution provides that the election shall be held in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. In this system, the elector has to mark preferences against the names of the candidates. Preference can be marked in the international form of Indian numerals, in Roman form, or in the form in any recognised Indian language. Preference has to be marked in figures only and shall not be indicated in words. The elector can mark as many preferences as the number of candidates. While the marking of the first preference is compulsory for the ballot paper to be valid, other preferences are optional.
For marking the vote, the Commission will supply particular pens. The pen will be given to the electors in the polling station by the designated official when the ballot paper is handed over. Electors have to mark the ballot only with this particular pen and not with any other pen. Voting by using any other pen shall lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting.
The Election Commission, in consultation with the Central Government, appoints the Secretary-General of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, by rotation, as the Returning Officer. Accordingly, the Secretary-General, Lok Sabha will be appointed as the Returning Officer for the present election to the Office of the Vice-President of India. The Commission has also decided to appoint Assistant Returning Officers in Parliament House (Lok Sabha) to assist the Returning Officer.
As per Rule 8 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974, the poll for the election will be taken in the Parliament House. The counting of votes will be held in New Delhi under the supervision of the Returning Officer. The polling, if required, shall take place in Room No.63, 1st Floor, Parliament House, New Delhi. Political parties cannot issue any whip to their MPs in the matter of voting in the Vice-Presidential election.
Following is the detailed schedule for the Vice President’s elections:
– global bihari bureau
