Vice President Dhankhar Resigns: How will the election of the next Vice President be? How different from other elections? Know everything

Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar announced his resignation late on Monday evening. Citing health reasons in a letter sent to President Draupadi Murmu, he said that he is resigning from the post of Vice President of India with immediate effect to give priority to his care. After Dhankhar's sudden resignation in the middle of his tenure, many questions have arisen about the next Vice President.

Who votes in the Vice Presidential election?

In the Vice Presidential election, 233 elected MPs of Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated MPs in Rajya Sabha, and 543 MPs of Lok Sabha can vote. In this way, a total of 788 people can vote. However, when the Election Commission announces the dates for the Vice Presidential election, it will count all the current members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

How is voting done in the Vice Presidential election?

The process of the Vice Presidential election is mentioned in Article 66 of the Constitution. This election is done by the proportional representation method, which is completely different from the voting process of Lok Sabha or Assembly elections. Voting in the Vice Presidential election is done through the Single Transferable Vote System. Simply put, the voter in this election has to vote based on preference. For example, he writes one for his first-choice candidate, two for his second-choice candidate, and similarly, he writes his preference number in front of other candidates on the ballot paper. This entire process is done through a secret ballot system. The voter has to write his preference only in the form of Roman numerals. To write this, a special pen provided by the Election Commission has to be used.

How are the votes counted?

First, it is seen how many first preference votes all the candidates have received. Then the first preference votes received by all are added. The total number is divided by two and one is added to the quotient. Now the number obtained is considered as the quota that is necessary for a candidate to remain in the counting.

If in the first counting itself, a candidate gets equal to or more votes than the quota required for victory, then he is declared victorious. If this is not possible then the process is taken forward. First of all, the candidate who has received the least number of votes in the first counting is eliminated from the election race.

After this, the votes given to the priority of the candidate who is out of the race are checked to see who has been given the second priority. Then these second priority votes are transferred to the account of other candidates. After combining these votes, if the votes of any candidate become equal to or more than the quota number, then that candidate is declared the winner.

If no candidate is elected even at the end of the second round, then the process continues. The candidate who has received the least number of votes is eliminated. The ballot papers giving him the first priority and the ballot papers received by him during the second counting are checked again, and it is seen who has been given the next priority.

Then that priority is transferred to the concerned candidates. This process continues, and the candidates with the fewest votes will continue to be eliminated until the number of votes received by a single candidate is equal to the quota.

When is the candidature of the Vice President accepted?

To stand in the election, any person has to nominate at least 20 Members of Parliament as proposers and at least 20 Members of Parliament as supporters. To become a candidate for the Vice President, a security deposit of Rs 15,000 has to be deposited. After the nomination, the Election Officer then examines the nomination papers, and the names of the eligible candidates are included in the ballot.

What responsibilities does the Vice President have? How does he work?

Although the constitutional responsibilities of the Vice President are very limited, his role as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha becomes very important. Apart from this, his responsibility becomes even more important when the post of the President becomes vacant for some reason. In such a situation, the Vice President has to fulfill the responsibility of the President as well because the post of the head of the nation cannot be kept vacant. According to the protocol of the country, the President is also at the top. After this, the Vice President and then the Prime Minister.

How different is the Vice President election from the Presidential election?

In the Vice Presidential election, members of both houses of Parliament vote. These also include nominated members of Rajya Sabha. In the Presidential election, elected MPs and MLAs of all states vote. In the Presidential election, nominated MPs cannot vote, but this is not the case in the Vice Presidential election. Such members can also vote in the Vice Presidential election.