The nomination process for the election of Vice President begins today with July 19 being the last date for filling the nominations. Current Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s term comes to an ends August 10.
For the election, nomination papers can be submitted starting today up to July 19. The scrutiny for the nominations will take place on July 20 and the final list will be published on July 22.
Besides, the nomination process for the post will be held on August 6 between 10 AM and 5 PM, and the results are expected to be out on the same day.
Naidu’s successor will take charge during Parliament’s Monsoon Session and preside over the Upper House as its chairperson.
The Election Commision of India (ECI) has also issued directions for Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to be the Returning Officer for the polls.
Voting for the VP will happen in the Parliament and members of the Rajya Sabha will participate in this election as the vice president is also the de facto chairman of the upper house.
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 this year, 16th Vice-Presidential Election, the Electoral College consists of 233 elected members of the Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, and 543 elected members of the 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 vote of each Member would be the same i.e. 1.
The voting will be held by secret ballot and showing votes to anyone in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections is prohibited. The Election Commission of India will provide particular pens for marking the vote. Electors cannot mark ballots with any other pen. Voting by any other pen shall lead to invalidation of the vote.