CDS (I) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 92 of 120

Correct — C, Proportional Representation and the Single Transferable Vote System. Article 55(3) is explicit: the election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, and the voting shall be by secret ballot. Each elector ranks the candidates in order of preference on one ballot. A quota is fixed at more than half the total value of valid votes; first preferences are counted, and if nobody reaches the quota the lowest candidate is eliminated and that candidate's papers are transferred to the next preference marked on them, until someone crosses it. The two halves of the phrase go together — proportional representation is the principle and the single transferable vote is the machinery — which is why the options that name only one of them, or that pair proportional representation with first-past-the-post, all fail.

• (a)Proportional Representation only — Incomplete. Proportional representation is the stated principle, but Article 55(3) does not stop there — it names the single transferable vote as the method by which that principle is applied, and the counting rules follow from the transferable vote, not from proportional representation in the abstract.
• (b)First-Past-the-Post System only — First-past-the-post is how members of the Lok Sabha and of State Legislative Assemblies are chosen — the candidate with the most votes wins, with no quota and no transfers. The presidential election deliberately does not work that way.
• (d)Proportional Representation and the First-Past-the-Post System — Mixes two systems that are not combined anywhere in the Constitution. Proportional representation is paired with the single transferable vote in Articles 55 and 66; it is never paired with first-past-the-post.

The President is elected indirectly, by an electoral college. Article 54 makes that college the elected members of both Houses of Parliament together with the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, and — after the 70th Amendment — of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and of Puducherry. Nominated members and members of State Legislative Councils are excluded. Article 55 then weights the votes so that the States as a whole carry the same value as the Union, and prescribes proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote with a secret ballot. The Vice-President is elected the same way, under Article 66, but by MPs alone.

The question turns on knowing that the constitutional phrase is a single unit. Students who half-remember 'proportional representation' pick (a) and lose the mark; students who remember that a president is one person and therefore assume a plurality contest pick (b). A useful sanity check is that a strict proportional-representation system needs multi-member seats, and here only one office is being filled — so the single transferable vote is doing the real work, running preferences until a candidate crosses a quota of more than half the total value of valid votes. The Constitution nevertheless uses the full phrase, and the exam expects it back in full. Weighting is the other half of the design: an MLA's vote is valued by the State's population divided by the number of elected members, scaled down, and an MP's vote takes the total value of all MLA votes divided by the number of elected MPs.

• Article 55(3) prescribes proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, with voting by secret ballot.
• Article 54 defines the electoral college: elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States, Delhi and Puducherry.
• Nominated members of Parliament and of State Assemblies, and all members of State Legislative Councils, have no vote in the presidential election.
• A winning candidate must reach a quota of more than half the total value of valid votes polled; lowest candidates are eliminated and their preferences transferred until someone does.
• The Vice-President is elected on the same system under Article 66, but by members of both Houses of Parliament only — State legislators take no part.

• Including nominated MPs or members of State Legislative Councils in the electoral college — neither votes.
• Answering 'proportional representation' alone; the constitutional phrase always carries the single transferable vote with it.
• Assuming the Vice-President's electoral college is the same as the President's. State legislators vote for the President but not for the Vice-President.

As a direct question on the method of election, as a not-correct statement item on the composition of the electoral college, or as a comparison between the presidential and vice-presidential elections.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is NOT part of the electoral college for the election of the President of India?

  • (a)Elected members of the Lok Sabha
  • (b)Elected members of the Rajya Sabha
  • (c)Elected members of State Legislative Councils
  • (d)Elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Puducherry

  Answer(c) Elected members of State Legislative Councils — Article 54 admits only elected members of the two Houses of Parliament and of the Legislative Assemblies of States, Delhi and Puducherry.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Vice-President of India is elected by

  • (a)the members of both Houses of Parliament only
  • (b)the members of both Houses of Parliament and of State Legislative Assemblies
  • (c)the members of the Rajya Sabha only
  • (d)direct election by the people

  Answer(a) the members of both Houses of Parliament only — Article 66(1). Unlike the presidential election, State legislators take no part.