Polling underway to elect India's next Vice-President

New Delhi, August 6, 2022

Polling was underway here today in the country's 16th Vice-Presidential election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the first to cast his vote in Parliament House.

The contest is between the ruling BJP-led NDA's candidate Jagdeep Dhankar, until recently the Governor of West Bengal, and the joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, a Congress leader and former Union Minister.

Counting of votes will be taken up at the end of polling at 5 pm today. Voting had begun at 10 am.

The term of office of current Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will end on August 10.

As per Article 68 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.

As per Article 66 of the Constitution, 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 2022, 16th Vice-Presidential Election, the Electoral College consists of 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha, and 543 elected members of Lok Sabha.

The 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 of Parliament would be same -- 1 (one).

The Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is the Returning Officer for the election.

The new Vice-President is slated to be sworn in on August 11.

NNN