Vice-presidential election to be held on Aug 6

The polls to elect the 16th vice president of India will be held on August 6, with the last date of nomination set for July 19, the Election Commission of India announced on Wednesday.

The polls are slated to be held four days before vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu demits office on August 10.

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. The electoral college comprises a total of 788 members -- 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha and 543 elected members of Lok Sabha.

“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 shall lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting,” the Commission said in a statement.

The secretary general of the Lok Sabha has been appointed as the returning officer for the election. The Election Commission statement added that the nomination paper of a candidate has to be “subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and by at least another 20 electors as seconders.

Since the voting will be by secret ballot, the Commission has asked the electors to maintain the secrecy of the vote. “The Constitution has expressly provided that election to the office of Vice-President shall be by secret ballot. Therefore, the electors are expected to scrupulously maintain secrecy of vote. There is no concept of open voting in this election and showing the ballot to anyone under any circumstances in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections is totally prohibited,” the statement said.

The Election Commission on June 9 announced that the presidential election will be held on July 18 and counting of votes will take place on July 21. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has put forth the name of former Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, has an advantage in the race, but the opposition has also fielded consensus candidate -- former union minister Yahswant Sinha.