Procedure
The president is elcted by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of parliament, the elected members of the Legislative assemblies of the 29 states and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. As of 2017, the Electoral College comprises 776 MPs and 4120 MLAs. The total strength of Electoral College is
10,98,882 (explained below) votes. Halfway mark is 5, 49,442 votes.
Only elected members can vote; the nominated members of the Parliament or the State Legislative Assembly aren’t eligible to vote in this. There are 12 nominated members in Rajya Sabha & 2 nominated members in Lok Sabha.
The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders.
Proposers: Voters (MPs & MLAs) who propose the nomination of a candidate.
Seconders: Voters (MPs & MLAs) who support the nomination of a candidate.
The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE METHOD. The voting takes place by secret ballot. The manner of election of President is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution.
Weightage of Votes
The value of votes held by an MLA is:-
(total population of state or union territory)/(total number of elected members of the legislative assembly*1000)
{Until 2026, the necessary calculations for the population of a state or union territory are to be done by the 1971 census (as per the 84th Constitutional Amendment Act).}
For example- DELHI
Population (as per 1971 census) = 4065698
Number of Assembly seats = 70
Value of vote of each MLA = 4065968/701000 = 58
Total value of votes for the state = 5870 = 4060
The value of votes held by an MP:-
(the sum of vote value of elected members of all the legisltaive assembly)/(the sum of elected members of both the houses of prliament)
Total value of votes for all the MLAs = 549495
Total number of MPs = 543 (LS) + 233 (RS) = 776
Value of the vote of each MP = 549495/776 = 708
Total value of votes of all the MPs = 776*708 = 549408
Total value of votes for the = 549495 + 549408
Presidential Election in 2017 = 10,98,882
To win the election, a candidate has to acquire (50%+1) votes, i.e. 5, 49,442 votes.
Single Transferable Vote Method
Let us take an illustration to clearly understand the concept the single transferable vote method –
There are three nominations, say X, Y & Z for the presidential election and total voters in the electoral college are 1000.
Votes required for winning = (50%)*1000 + 1 = 501
Even if a candidate wins majority of the votes (i.e. more than the other candidates) but is not able to reach the required 501 votes, he/she won’t be elected as the president.
The voters have to mark their preferences for each candidate on the ballot paper.
Now suppose following are the votes won by each candidate (1st preference of the voters) – X = 400 Y= 350 Z= 250
Since the required quota of votes is not acquired be any of the candidates, the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated and all its votes will be transferred to the other candidates on the basis of the 2nd preference given on these ballot papers.
Suppose after further counting the results are - X= 550 Y= 450
X will be elected as the President.
In case of more candidates, after every round of counting elimination of a candidate takes place until a candidate crosses the halfway mark.
The current scenario (2017)
The candidates for Presidential Election 2017 are RAM NATH KOVIND and MEIRA KUMAR.
RAM NATH KOVIND, the Governor of Bihar and a Dalit leader, has been announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA's candidate for the post of President of India by BJP president Amit Shah .
MEIRA KUMAR, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, has been nominated as a joint presidential candidate by the leading opposition parties for 2017 Presidential election.
The election is to be held on 17th of July and the counting will be done on 20th of July.