The election to choose the next President of India will be held on July 18 and the result will be announced on July 21, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Thursday.

Announcing the schedule for the election of the President at a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind is ending on July 24.

As per the poll schedule, notification for the presidential election will be issued on June 15 while the last day of filing nomination will be June 29. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on June 30, while the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers will be July 2.

Polling, if required, will be held on July 18 and counting will take place on July 21. The Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha will be the Returning Officer for this election.

As per Article 62 of the Constitution, an election for the next President must be held before the completion of the incumbent’s term.

The last Presidential election was held on July 17, 2017, while the declaration of the winner was made three days later on July 20.

As per Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

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.

Article 324 of the Constitution read with the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, and the Presidential and Vice – Presidential Elections Rules, 1974 vests the superintendence, direction, and control of the conduct of election to the office of the President of India in the Election Commission of India.

Kumar said, “The value of the vote of an MP will be 700. Those in preventive detention can vote and those in jail will have to apply for parole and if they get parole, they can vote.”

“The value of votes of the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament is governed by Article 55(2) of the Constitution. The total value of votes for MLAs for the 16th Presidential Election is 5,43,231. The total value of votes for MPs is 5,43,200. The total value of the vote of electors for the Presidential Election, 2022 is 10,86,431,” he said.

“A total of 4,809 electors to vote in the Presidential elections in 2022. No political party can issue a whip to its members,” Kumar said.

The Chief Election Commissioner said, “A nomination paper of a candidate has to be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and by at least other fifty electors as seconders. An elector can subscribe to only one nomination paper of a candidate as either a proposer or a seconder.”

A candidate can file a maximum of four nomination papers. The security deposit for the election is Rs 15,000, which is required to be made along with the nomination paper or should be deposited in the Reserve Bank of India or a Government Treasury under the relevant Head of Accounts for the purpose, prior to the filing of nomination.

Members of Parliament are expected to cast their votes at the place of polling in the Parliament House and Members of State Legislative Assemblies are expected to vote at the respective State Legislative Assembly.

Kumar mentioned that the election to the office of the President will be by secret ballot and therefore, the electors are expected to scrupulously maintain the secrecy of the vote and any violation of the voting procedure will entail the cancellation of the ballot paper by the Presiding Officer.

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 will lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting.

To make elections eco-friendly, the election to the office of President of India, The ECI has directed the Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officers concerned to ensure the use of eco-friendly and biodegradable material and eliminate the use of prohibited plastic or materials as per extant instructions of the Government of India, Counting of votes will be held in New Delhi under the supervision of the Returning Officer.