With reference to the President of India, answer the following:
How is the President of India elected?
Topic: Election of the President
Answer
The President is elected INDIRECTLY, by an ELECTORAL COLLEGE consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States (including Delhi and Puducherry).
The election is held by the system of PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION by means of a SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE, and the voting is by secret ballot. The value of each vote is weighted according to the population the voter represents, so that there is uniformity among the States and parity between the States and the Union. All disputes about the election are decided by the Supreme Court.
Three marks, so give three elements: the Electoral College, the method, and the weighting or the secret ballot. The detail candidates most often miss is that NOMINATED members do not vote — only ELECTED members of Parliament and of the State Assemblies. Members of the Legislative Councils do not vote either. The weighting explains WHY the system exists: it makes the President the representative of the whole nation, States included.