Although NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan won the Vice Presidential election, discussions in political circles are focused on invalid votes. In the election held on September 9th, 15 votes were declared invalid. This raises the question of when a vote is invalidated and how this is determined.
The assumption of which alliance’s vote was invalid can be made by observing the error in casting the vote. If a member of parliament made a mistake in the box next to CP Radhakrishnan’s name, it is assumed that the MP was from the NDA. If the mistake occurred in the box next to Sudarshan Reddy’s name, it is assumed that the MP was from the INDIA alliance.
Invalid votes can also result from using the wrong pen. In the Vice Presidential election, a special pen is provided by the election officer. This pen must be used for voting. In the event of a vote challenge, this special pen (ink) can be presented as evidence in forensic examination. Other reasons include writing preferences in words instead of numbers (e.g., one or two) or exceeding the boundaries while writing the number inside the box. Also, if the same number is written in front of both candidates.
**Voting and Counting Process in the Vice Presidential Election**
In the Vice Presidential election, members of parliament from the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha cast their votes through secret ballot. There is no identification mark on the ballot paper provided for voting, so it is not possible to determine which MP voted for whom. Each MP receives a ballot paper with a number on it. Before the ballot is put in the ballot box, that number is also colored to hide it, so that the MP’s identity cannot be revealed based on the ballot number.
**Ballot Paper Structure:**
* Boxes are placed in front of the candidates’ names.
* MPs have to write numbers (1 and 2) according to their preference.
* If desired, the MP can only write the first preference.
* Preferences can only be written in numbers, not in words.
* Writing numbers in the international number system, Roman, or any Indian language is acceptable.
* Writing more than one preference is not mandatory.
**Counting Process:**
* First, all ballot papers are sorted.
* Valid and invalid votes are separated.
* The winning quota is determined based on the total number of valid votes.
* Formula: (Valid votes รท 2) + 1
**Example: If the total valid votes are 700, then the winning quota will be 351.**
* The candidate who gets more votes than the first preference quota is declared the winner.