Explained: How Rajya Sabha Members Are Elected And The Process Of Counting Votes

The term of a Rajya Sabha member is six years and the polls to the Upper House of the Parliament are held every two years for 33 per cent of the seats.

Elections for 56 seats of Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the Parliament are scheduled to take place on February 27. These seats are spread across 15 states and the last day for filing nominations is February 15. However, the process of selecting candidates to Rajya Sabha seats largely varies from the process adopted for Lok Sabha elections. 

Unlike the Lower House, for which the members are elected for a term of five years, the tenure for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years and the elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. 

Election Process For Rajya Sabha 

Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members which represent States and Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. Out of the total 245 members, 12 are directly nominated by the President who are veterans in the field of art, literature, sports, science etc. 

Based on population, each state is allocated a certain number of candidates in the Upper House. For instance, Uttar Pradesh has 31 Rajya Sabha seats while Goa has one. 

Members of the state legislative assemblies choose Rajya Sabha members through an indirect election system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote (SVT)

Counting Of Votes 

The process to count votes for a Rajya Sabha election follows a complex system. A candidate contesting polls for the Upper House requires to secure a specific number of votes called quota. The calculation of quota depends on the number of vacancies to be filled. If the polls are being conducted to fill one vacancy, the quota will be computed by dividing the total number of valid votes by the number of seats to be filled, plus 1, and adding 1 to the quotient. 

Quota= [(Total number of valid votes)/(Number of seats+1)]+1 

However, if there are more than one seat to be filled, the formula changes and the total number of valid votes is multiplied by 100, divided by total number of vacancies, plus 1, and adding 1 to the quotient. 

Quota (for more than one seat)= [(Total number of valid votes x 100)/(Number of seats vacant)+1]+1

In case a candidate receives votes in surplus of the quota, the extra votes are then transferred to other candidates based on the preference listed out by the voters indicated on the ballot paper.