How the Vice-President of India is elected? Explained

Vice President Election 2022: Vice President of India is the second highest constitutional office in the country. Parliamentarians began voting to elect the next vice-president of India in a contest of competing ideologies between NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar and Opposition nominee Margaret Alva on Saturday (August 6, 2022) amid a bitter political battle. 

The voting will take place at the Parliament House between 10 am and 5 pm and votes will be counted on the same day itself. The next vice-president will take the oath of office on August 11, which is a day after the term of the incumbent V-P M Venakish Naidu ends.

The Election Commission of India is the body that conducts the election for the office of the Vice President.

Who elects the vice-president of India?

The vice-president of India is elected by an electoral college, which consists of members of both Houses of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The voting is held through a secret ballot. The value of vote of each MP would be the same — one, the Election Commission has said.

The electoral college for the election of the vice-president consists of the following members: Rajya Sabha: Elected = 233, nominated = 12 and Lok Sabha: Elected = 543, nominated = 2, Total = 790. 

Who can become vice-president?

The minimum age limit to apply for the position of vice-president is 35 years. The candidate should be Indian citizens and fulfil all of the requirements for membership in the Rajya Sabha. A person is not also eligible to contest if he/she holds any office of profit under the Central government or states.

How is vice-president candidates nominated? 

A candidate needs 20 electors as proposers and at least another 20 electors as seconders for his nomination for the vice-president. The candidate also has to make a security deposit of ₹15,000.

How votes are counted?

The number of first-choice votes received by each MP is determined. Then, the calculated numbers are added together and divided by two, one is added to the quotient, disregarding any remainder. The resulting number is the quota required for a candidate to run in the election. Later on, after the calculation is done, if the total number of votes credited to any candidate at the end of the first or any subsequent count is equal to or greater than the quota, that candidate is declared elected.