Vice President election 2022: Why EVMs are not used in President, Vice-President polls? How they are elected- Explained

The voting for next Vice President of India, who is also the ex-officio chairman of upper house i.e. Rajya Sabha is taking place, has begun on Saturday .

NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar is pitted against the opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

The voting is being done by a system of proportional representation using ballot boxes.

However, what is the reason behind using ballot boxes in Vice Presidential elections and not the EVMs? Zee Business brings you a detailed report.

First of all, the Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) are based on a technology which works as an aggregator of votes. It is helpful in direct elections as the voter base is huge and spread over a large canvas.

Hence the EVMs are not designed to register the proportional representation system of voting which is used in Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections. To use EVM in these elections, the machine will require a different set of technology altogether.

In simpler terms, a different type of EVM would be needed.

But in Vice Presidential elections, there is no direct voting. Here, an electoral college is formed by the Parliament i.e. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, where the members are 543 and 245 respectively.

Since all the electors are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of vote of each MP would be the same -- one, the Election Commission has said.

The election is in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.

These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1,2,3, 4, 5 and so on. The figures are to be put in front of the names of the candidates, in the order of preference, in the space provided in column 2 of the ballot paper.

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 EC has cautioned, adding that parties cannot issue whip to its MPs in the matter of voting.

Unlike the presidential poll where voting takes place in multiple locations as elected MLAs, not nominated, also form part of the electoral college, in the vice presidential election, voting takes place in Parliament House.