The presidential election will be held on July 17 and counting will be done on July 20, five days before the current President’s term expires. The incumbent is eligible for re-election, as no term limits exist in India.

The manner of election of President is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution. The president is elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of Parliament, the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the 29 states and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. As of 2017, the electoral college comprises 776 Members of Parliament (MPs) and 4,120 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

The total strength of the electoral college is 10,98,882 votes. Halfway mark is 5,49,442 votes. After state assembly elections and by-polls of 2017, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is short of nearly 20,000 votes.

The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote method. The voting takes place by secret ballot.

A room in the Parliament House in New Delhi and a room in all state legislative assembly secretariats are generally fixed as places of poll.

In accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences, as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the candidates, in the order of preference, in the space provided in column 2 of the ballot paper.

The preference can be indicated in international form of Indian numerals or in the form used in any Indian language or in Roman form but the preferences cannot be indicated in words like one, two, first preference second preference etc.

— Karuna Madan, 
Correspondent