Election Commission: Particular Pen To Be Used For Presidential Polls On 18 July

Electors have to use a particular pen provided by the Election Commission to mark the ballot for the Presidential elections on 18 July and use of any other pen would lead to invalidation of the vote.

The Election Commission has announced 18 July as the date of the 16th Presidential Election for electing the next President of India and the results will be announced on 21 July.

The Election Commission will provide particular pens to electors to mark their vote on ballot papers. The pen will be given to the electors in the polling station by the designated official when the ballot paper is handed over.

According to the EC, electors have to mark the ballot only with the pen provided by the poll panel and not with any other pen. Voting by using any other pen shall lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting.

Polling will take place in Parliament House here and in state legislative assemblies. Elected members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and elected MLAs are entitled to vote.

Nominated MPs and MLAs and members of legislative councils cannot vote to elect the President.

Addressing a presser, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced that incumbent Ram Nath Kovind’s successor will be elected by 4,809 members of the electoral college comprising MPs and MLAs.

The total value of the votes for all MPs combined is 5,43,200 and States is 5,43,231. The total electors for the current election would be 4809.

Kumar also said that no whip will be permissible by any political party for presidential election. So far no political party has named its choice for the top constitutional post. The opposition is expected to field a joint candidate against the ruling party’s candidate.

The tenure of President Ram Nath Kovind will come to an end on 24 July 2022, and as per Article 62 of the Constitution, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office is required to be completed before the term ends.

According to the schedule for the election of the office of the President of India, the notification for the election will be issued on 15 June, the last date for nomination is scheduled for 29 June.

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