Vice-Presidential Election

The Vice President of India, officially the Vice President of the Republic of India, is the second-highest constitutional office in India after the President. Article 63 of Indian Constitution states that "There shall be a Vice President of India." The Vice President acts as President in the absence of the president due to death, resignation, impeachment, or other situations.

Article 66 of the constitution sets the qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the Vice-President. A vice-president must be:

· a citizen of India

· of 35 years of age or above

· qualified to become a member of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha

· should not hold any office of profit under the central government, state government, or any public authority.

The Vice-President of India is elected by an electoral college consists of

· the members (elected as well as nominated) of both houses of the parliament,

The voting system is the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting in such election is by secret ballot.

The total number of voters in the Vice-Presidential election is 790. The number of voters from the Lok Sabha is 545 (543 elected and 2 nominated) while the number of voters from the Rajya Sabha is 245 (233 elected and 12 nominated). For the Vice-Presidential Election, the value of vote of each Member of Parliament is 01 (One).

The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the Vice-President must be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders. The election is held by means of a secret ballot under the single transferable vote system. Each candidate has to make a security deposit of ₹15,000 in the Reserve Bank of India. The security deposit is liable to be forfeited in case the candidate fails to secure one-sixth of the votes polled.

The manner of election of Vice-President is provided by Article 66 of the Constitution.

The Returning Officer usually appointed to conduct the Vice-Presidential elections is the Secretary-General of either House of the Parliament, by rotation.

• Term of Office of Vice-President of India - Once elected, the Vice-President holds the office for a period of five years.

• Oath by - President of India

• Resignation to - President of India

• Re-election - A person is eligible for re-election to the office of the Vice-President.

• Disputes Regarding the Election of Vice-President are challenged in - Supreme Court of India

• Impeachment - Removal of the Vice President doesn’t require a formal impeachment. Can be removed by a simple resolution which has a majority of all the then members of the Rajya Sabha (effective majority ) and a simple majority in the Lok Sabha.