Cross-voting
Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Cross-voting happens when a legislator votes for someone other than their own party's candidate. It is mostly seen in indirect elections, such as Rajya Sabha polls. Cross-voting alone does not lead to disqualification under the anti-defection law, which removes members who leave or defy their party. The party may still take its own disciplinary action. The open ballot, brought in for Rajya Sabha polls in 2003, was meant to curb cross-voting and the use of money to buy votes.
Example
In Himachal Pradesh in February 2024, six Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election. They were disqualified later, but for defying the party whip (the party's order on how to vote) on the Budget vote, not for cross-voting.
Don't confuse with
- Defying the whip: disobeying the party's order on a vote in the House can lead to anti-defection disqualification. Cross-voting in a Rajya Sabha poll by itself does not.
Related concepts
- Single transferable vote
- Electoral quota
- Election of Rajya Sabha members
- Open ballot
- Kuldip Nayar case
- Shailesh Manubhai Parmar case
- Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act 1952