Article 55. Manner of election of President
Article 6 of Constitution of India deals with Article 55 of the Indian Constitution outlines the manner of election of the President, emphasizing proportional representation through a single transferable vote and secret ballot, ensuring uniformity in representation among states and parity between the Union and states.
Original text of Article 55 of Constitution of India
(1) As far as practicable, there shall be uniformity in the scale of representation of the different States at the election of the President.
(2) For the purpose of securing such uniformity among the States inter se as well as parity between the States as a whole and the Union, the number of votes which each elected member of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly of each State is entitled to cast at such election shall be determined in the following manner:—
(a) every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly;
(b) if, after taking the said multiples of one thousand, the remainder is not less than five hundred, then the vote of each member referred to in sub-clause (a) shall be further increased by one;
(c) each elected member of either House of Parliament shall have such number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes assigned to the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States under sub-clauses (a) and (b) by the total number of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament, fractions exceeding one-half being counted as one and other fractions being disregarded.
(3) 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 at such election shall be by secret ballot.
[Explanation.—In this article, the expression “population” means the Population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published:
Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding Census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year [2026] have been published, be construed as a reference to the 1971 census.]
Questions related to Article 6 of Constitution of India
Article 55 of the Indian Constitution lays down the manner of election of the President, ensuring uniformity in representation of different states in the electoral process.
Yes, Indian Kanoon provides the full text of Article 55 along with legal interpretations, helping you understand the technical provisions of the Constitution of India regarding presidential elections.
Article 55 ensures fair and proportional representation of states in the presidential election, upholding the federal principles of the Constitution of India.
Article 55 works alongside Articles of Indian Constitution like Article 54 (election) and Article 56 (tenure) to define the structure and process of electing the President of India.
You can study Article 55 in simplified form on 99Notes and refer to Indian Kanoon for in-depth legal references and interpretations from the Constitution of India.
For Further Reference:
Other Related Links:
