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Five things you need to know about the Presidential elections 2017

  • The election to vote the 14th President of India started today, July 17, 2017. The Electoral College elects the President
  • The voting will decide who between NDA’s candidate Ram Nath Kovind and opposition candidate Meira Kumar will win
  • President Pranab Mukherjee's term is expiring on July 25
Five things you need to know about the Presidential elections 2017

The election to vote the 14th President of India started today, July 17, 2017. The process will go on from 10 am to 5 pm. The voting will decide who between NDA’s candidate Ram Nath Kovind and opposition candidate Meira Kumar will win. These are a few things you should know about India’s presidential election.

1)    Collegiate body

The Electoral College elects the President. This body comprises all elected members of Parliament and the members of the legislative assemblies of all states, as well as of the union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

2)    The number of votes

The total strength of the electoral college is 10,98,903 votes. Each Parliamentarian carries a vote value of 708. The voting weight of a member of a State Assembly is calculated keeping in mind the population of the state he or she represents. A candidate needs 50 per cent-plus votes to win the poll. That translates to 5,49,452 votes.

3)    The voting process

The voting on Monday will be held between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm. Paper ballots will be used, and the votes will be valid only if a special violet ink pen is used to vote. The violet ink pens being used in the election is from Mysuru. The MPs will vote on green ballots, and the MLAs will vote on pink ballots. Ballot boxes from the States will be flown and stored in Room 62 of Parliament.

4)    Counting of votes

The counting of votes will take place on July 20 in Delhi. President Pranab Mukherjee's term is expiring on July 25.

5)    Election of Vice-president 

The election for the post of Vice President is scheduled for August 5, 2017. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the joint Opposition candidate for the position, will file his nomination papers on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. The NDA has yet to decide on its candidate for the post.

 The Times of India reports that Kovind has the upper hand in the elections since close to 40 parties, including Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (U) which is a major party in the opposition, have pledged to support him.
 

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