Election of President

1. Constitutional design and electoral college

Article 52 establishes the office of President, while Article 53 vests the executive power of the Union in that office. The President is the constitutional head within a parliamentary system, ordinarily acting on ministerial advice under Article 74. Indirect election is consistent with this position: it avoids creating a separate popular mandate potentially competing with that of the elected government.

Article 54 defines the electoral college. It comprises elected members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and elected members of State Legislative Assemblies. For Articles 54 and 55, the expression State also includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territory of Puducherry. This inclusion was made through the Constitution (Seventieth Amendment) Act, 1992.

Nominated members of either House of Parliament cannot vote, even though they participate in several other parliamentary functions. Nominated Assembly members and all Legislative Council members are also excluded. Merely having a Legislative Assembly does not automatically make a Union territory eligible: Article 54 expressly includes Delhi and Puducherry, not every Union territory with a legislature.

Participation by State legislators gives the election a federal character, while participation by MPs represents the Union. However, presidential election is not a proceeding of Parliament or of a State legislature; it is a distinct constitutional electoral process.

• For the Vice-President’s election, elected and nominated members of both Houses of Parliament participate; State legislators do not.
• For presidential impeachment, nominated MPs can participate, but State legislators have no role.

2. Eligibility, nomination and election administration

Under Article 58, a presidential candidate must be an Indian citizen, have completed 35 years of age, and be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha. The candidate need not actually be an MP or MLA. A person holding an office of profit under the Union, a State, or an authority subject to their control is ordinarily ineligible. However, holding office as President, Vice-President, Governor, or a Union or State minister does not itself create this disqualification.

Article 59 prohibits the President from being a member of Parliament or a State legislature. If a legislator is elected President, the legislative seat is deemed vacant on the date the person enters the presidential office. This is different from requiring resignation merely to contest the election.

Article 324 places the election under the Election Commission of India’s superintendence, direction and control. The principal statutory framework is the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, read with the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974.

A nomination paper must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 as seconders. The candidate must deposit ₹15,000. These requirements discourage frivolous candidatures without restricting eligibility to established parties. Following scrutiny and the withdrawal stage, polling takes place if more than one validly nominated candidate remains.

• An elector cannot subscribe more than one nomination paper at the same election as proposer or seconder.
• The security deposit is liable to forfeiture if an unsuccessful candidate does not secure more than one-sixth of the valid vote value.

3. Weighted votes and the population formula

Article 55 seeks uniformity, as far as practicable, in the scale of representation of different States and parity between the States collectively and the Union. Accordingly, presidential electors do not all possess votes of equal value. An MLA’s vote value depends on the population of the State and the number of elected seats in its Assembly.

To calculate an MLA’s vote value, divide the State’s population by the total number of elected Assembly members. The number of complete thousands in this quotient gives the basic vote value; a remainder of 500 or more adds one. Thus, a hypothetical State with a population of 20,000,000 and 200 elected Assembly members gives each MLA a vote value of 100.

The value of each elected MP’s vote is calculated by dividing the combined vote value of all eligible elected MLAs by the total number of elected members of both Houses of Parliament. A fraction exceeding one-half is counted as one; other fractions are disregarded. Every elected MP consequently has the same vote value, whether belonging to the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

The relevant population figures remain those of the 1971 Census. The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001 extended this arrangement until the relevant figures of the first census taken after 2026 are published. The freeze therefore does not automatically end in 2026. In the 2022 election, the vote value was 700 per MP; among States, an Uttar Pradesh MLA carried 208 votes and a Sikkim MLA seven.

• MLAs within the same State have equal vote values, but values differ between States.
• Population, not geographical area or current voter enrolment, supplies the demographic basis.
• Rounding rules for MLA and MP vote values are not identical.

4. Preferential ballot, counting and secrecy

Article 55 prescribes proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and voting by secret ballot. Since only one office is filled, the practical operation is preferential elimination and transfer until a candidate reaches the required quota. Electors indicate preferences using numerals: 1 for the first preference, 2 for the second, and so on.

Marking the first preference is essential for a valid ballot; indicating every subsequent preference is not compulsory. An elector’s ballot carries the value assigned to that elector. Counting therefore concerns the value of votes, not simply the number of ballot papers.

The winning quota is obtained by dividing the total value of valid votes by two, disregarding any remainder, and adding one. If nobody reaches it on first preferences, the candidate with the lowest vote value is eliminated. Ballots credited to that candidate are transferred to the next available preferences at their applicable values. Ballots without a further available preference become exhausted.

Political parties may express support for candidates, but cannot compel electors through a binding legislative whip. Voting against a party’s preferred candidate in this election does not attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. Unlike Rajya Sabha elections, the presidential election uses a secret ballot, not an open ballot.

• The relevant majority is based on valid vote value, not the total numerical membership of the electoral college.
• Second-preference votes matter only if transfers become necessary.

5. Timing, vacancies and election disputes

Article 56 provides a five-year presidential term beginning when the President enters office. The incumbent nevertheless continues until the successor enters office. Under Article 57, a person who has held the presidency is eligible for re-election, subject to the Constitution; there is no constitutional two-term limit.

Article 62 requires an election to fill a vacancy caused by normal expiry to be completed before the term expires. Where the vacancy arises through death, resignation, removal or otherwise, the election must occur as soon as possible and within six months. The person elected to fill such a vacancy receives a full five-year term, not merely the predecessor’s unexpired term.

Under Article 71, doubts and disputes concerning the presidential election are decided by the Supreme Court, whose decision is final. A challenge is brought through an election petition under the statutory framework. If the Court declares an election void, presidential acts performed before its decision are not invalidated for that reason.

Article 71(4) prevents an election from being challenged merely because a vacancy existed among members of the electoral college. In the Presidential Election Reference, 1974, the Supreme Court affirmed that dissolution of a State Assembly could not justify delaying the election beyond the constitutional deadline. This safeguards continuity of the Union executive despite incomplete legislative representation.

• Article 60 prescribes the presidential oath, administered by the Chief Justice of India or, in the Chief Justice’s absence, the senior-most available Supreme Court judge.
• Election disputes are distinct from impeachment for violation of the Constitution under Article 61.

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