Presidential poll 2017: EC allows Manohar Parrikar, Derek O'Brien to vote from their states; Voters to use special pen

The Presidential Elections are scheduled on Monday and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Trinamool Congress spokesman Derek O’Brien are among 14 Rajya Sabha members who have earned permission from the Election Commission to vote in their respective states instead of casting their ballot in Parliament.

Moreover, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, former Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi are among 41 Lok Sabha members who have been permitted to vote in their states by the EC in the polls.

The Commission’s statement said that five members of Legislative Assemblies were permitted to exercise their vote in Parliament and four MLAs to vote in other State Legislative Assemblies. NDA has chosen former Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as it’s Presidential candidate whereas UPA has chosen ex-speaker Meira Kumar for the polls. 

A special pen, with special ink will be given to the MPs and MLAs and they will be required to mark their preference from among both candidates for the country’s top post. EC officials have said that if any other pen is used to mark the ballot paper, the vote will be declared invalid.

"Before entering the voting chamber, a polling staff will collect personal pens from the voters and hand over the special pen to mark their vote on the ballot paper," an EC spokesperson said. The serial-numbered pens are filled with a violet ink approved by the EC.

"When the member comes out of the voting chamber, the special pen will be taken back and the polling staff will return the personal pen," the spokesperson said.

The counting of votes will be done in Parliament on July 20 and the new President will be sworn into office on July 25.