EC notification on Presidential election on Saturday

NEW DELHI: The process for the July 19 Presidential election will be formally set in motion with the Election Commission issuing a notification on Saturday.

According to the schedule, the last date for filing nominations is June 30, scrutiny on July two and the last date for withdrawal is July four.

Counting of votes is scheduled on July 21, three days before incumbent A P J Abdul Kalam demits office.

Already the UPA-Left combine has announced the candidature of Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil as its nominee while Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is expected to be fielded as an NDA-backed independent candidate.

The election shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote and the voting would be by secret ballot.

Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary has been appointed Returning Officer for the election.

776 Members of Parliament, including 543 from Lok Sabha, and 4,120 MLAs from various states, including Delhi and Puducherry, constitute the electoral college whose total vote value comes to 10,98,882 votes.

The ruling UPA alliance has got over 5.13 lakh votes while the strength of the opposition NDA is over 3.54 lakh votes and the combination of eight regional parties constituting the third front accounts for 1.05 lakh votes.