First preference Votes. Purushottam 638 Votes

Sr. No.	Rank	Name	Panel	Total	1st Pref
5	1	Purushottam Khandelwal	A	638	638
2	2	Vikash Jain	A	208	208
13	3	Aniket Talati	A	196	196
9	4	Chintan Patel	I	179	179
7	5	Amrish Patel	A	170	170
4	6	Satyandra Jha	A	153	153
3	7	Hersh Jain	B	151	151
6	8	Mukesh Parikh	A	141	141
12	8	Hiren Shah	B	141	141
11	10	Bishan Shah	B	119	119
14	11	Pradeep Tulsian	I	105	105
8	12	Bhaumil Patel	B	78	78
1	13	Sonal Dave	A	67	67
10	14	Murtuza Pulavwala	B	25	25

Finish line drawn and guestimate is there

Who are those 8 who will sit in the Ahmedabad branch as managing committee members?

The finish line is drawn. The thrilling roller coaster ride awaiting for the candidates. Purushottam seem to have secured more than 600 votes. His excess votes will change the fate of many candidates because his excess will give around half vote to each of the candidates who were voted second in the ballots of Purushottam.

Please note, this is all gues-stimate. Wait for the final counts on this blog..

Bhaumil, Sonal and Murtuza seems sure to be eliminated

The filling of the tray is giving early indications of the candidates. It looks like the votes in the tray of Bhaumil, Sonal, and Murtuza seems to be in the bottom three and probable candidates for the initial eliminations. 

Vikas, Hiren and Chintan seems to be in good shape and are sure to see the victory.

Wait for the final counts. Action has just begun.

Purushottam is going to make history and Aniket Talati also seem to have got the good no. of votes of members.

20 votes are invalid. Purushottam leading the tally.

20 Votes are invalid. Final tally of valid votes is 2371.

The quota is 263.

The distribution o fthe votes started. Purushottam Khandelwal is leading the tally. Highest no. of votes are seen in his tray. He is going to be the highest vote getter. 

Aniket Tatati has also secured good no. of votes.

Validations of the vote started

Now is the time to validate that all the votes casted are valid. The team is on the job. They will segregate the different votes which are considered invalid for different reasons such as no 1st preference votes, ticks or marks, multiple first preference votes and so  on...

Ahmedabad has a bad track record of having a large numbers of invalid votes. This time it was publicised much. Let's see, what lessons our Ahmedabad members have learnt...

Ahmedabad branch elections: All ballots tallied

All the votes for all four polling booth tallied. Here is the details:

Booth No.	No. of Votes.
1	720
2	516
3	503
4	652
Total	2391

The vote count started.. And so the fun..

The Counting is on now. The votes in ballot boxed are being counted and tallied with the count provided by election officer.

The total no. of votes cast is 2392 and if all the votes are valid, which is not going to be, then we have a quota of 265 votes. Means any candidate, who gets more than 265 vote is elected.

Looking at this count, I understand anyone who secures more than 200 votes is in safe zone and can be elected to the branch.

Polling booth no.1 vote is tallied. The count is 720 and it is tallied.

For the polling booth no.2 the count is 516 votes and tallied.. The actual votes in the box is being counted. In the booth 2, one vote was tendered as one member's name was not appearing in the voting list, and vote was kept separately. It was decided that since the member's name was not existing in the voter list, this vote will be rejected.

For the polling booth no. 3 the total count as per election officer is 503. the votes in the box is being counted.

Please hang on for the more information.

Final vote count for Ahmedabad branch is 2392

FINAL VOTE COUNT IS 2392. The counting process begun. I invite your prediction

1900 Votes casted by 4.30

Around 1900 votes already casted by 4.30 at elections to managing committee of Ahmedabad branch. It looks like around 2300 voes would be casted by end of day till schedule time of 6.30

Vote you must: Ahmedabad branch (ICAI) elections

Each vote matters. Ask Bhailal bhai Patel who lost in his first WIRC contest by fraction of votes only. Your vote is your opinion. Every vote represents the ideas of an individual. If I favour or value something I will vote for that, even if I know one is going to loose. I vote to right candidate, I don't vote to winning candidate. If you believe in something  go out, express it by your vote and who knows the candidate representing your ideas can make it. Or who knows, your vote is the critical to stop your candidate from elimination. Once your representatives are chosen, you need to accept their ideas whether you like it or not. But this is the only time, when you can make it possible that your ideas win by going out and vote for the people who carries your ideas.

So come out and vote. Vote for anyone, but Vote you Must.

As expressed earlier, my favourite candidates for this elections are:

CA Purushottam Khandelwal (Sr. No. 5)

CA Amrish J Patel (Sr. No. 7)

The counting of votes start at 8 pm today (9th March 2013). Hooked on to this blog for the live results update as and when it happens for each count and each eliminations. Book mark this page. 

See you there at ICAI Bhawan, 123, Sardar Patel Colony..

How many votes you need to win Ahmedabad branch elections?

How many votes one need to get elected in Ahmedabad branch elections for managing committee? This is the question I am generally asked by so many contestants and their supporters. The answer of this question lies in the number of votes cast in the election to be held on 9th March 2013. So my counter question is always, how many members would turn up to cast their votes? What is your expectations? I understand the vote count would be 2700 on the higher side and the 2250 on the lowers side, so somewhere between 2250 to 2700. And that be the case, the quota would be from 250 votes to 300 votes. It means, anyone who is able to get 250 to 300 first preference votes is sure shot to be in the committee. For the rest the game depends on the pattern of the second and subsequent votes. Looking at the number of CAs in Ahmedabad, it may tempt to all contestant to think that 250 is a very small number, and one is going to win. But this doesn't happen in the real life. I have spoken to all candidates and most of them think, 300 votes is a cat walk for them. But this is not. First preference values the most and that's why it's precious and people doesn't throw it away just like that.

To get maximum of this elections, and to ensure if your favourite candidate is not able to make it, atleast your second favourite is through, you need to be alert and following are the do's and don't s:

• Please give maximum preferences. First to your favourite and then second to the next favourite and so on...
• If your two contesting friends are equal for you, in that case, please don't give 1st to both of them. The vote will get invalid and both of them might loose by one vote. You will have to identify first among equals.
• Each preference matters, and in electing 8 members of managing committee, even the lower preferences will count and will make and break future of many. If you remember in central council elections, N C Hegde got handsome first preference votes, still he couldn't make it because you couldn't get subsequent preferences and Prafulla Chhajed was much below in securing first preference votes, but could get through because of subsequent preferences. So contestants and supporters and voters, keep this in mind and keep of giving as many preferences, as you can. 
• Last but most important, don't write anything else on the ballot except the preferences, Ahmedabad has a very bad track record of giving highest numbers of invalid votes.

So get set to go and make this interesting... And don't forget to write your comments below on what do you think?

ST 3 e Return???

CBEC notifies ST-3 Return for the period July 1, 2012 to Sept 30, 2012 to be e-filed by March 25, 2013. The electronic version of the ST 3 Return is under development and the date of its availability in ACES will be announced later--????

-CA. V.M.V.SUBBA RAO

Ahmedabad Elections: The second termers has a clear advantage

There is a fierce fighting in the Ahmedabad branch elections. The game has been changed this time due to preferential voting. The panel advantage is no more available and the people who earlier used to promote the panel of 8 are now worrying for their own candidature first before promoting anyone else. And that is really interesting. No one has now scope to ask for votes for eight candidates. Nor you can be now equally with all. If you are a candidate, you need to talk for first preference for yourself and if you are a supporter, you need to ask for your candidates first preference vote first and then to anyone else. Appeal to votes for all in panel is not possible now and that's why personal popularity has become the main attribute to get the votes. Everyone is after the first preference. Because you need to remain above others to remain in the race. You will really love the results and every eliminations when you will witness the counting process.

Let's analyze the chances of the candidates in the fray. I understand Amrish Patel, Purushottam Khandelwal and Aniket Talati has the clear advantage of being the sitting or past committee members. Amrish Patel is contesting this election for the third time. He took a break of one term and before that he was in the managing committee for consecutive two terms. He is most senior member among all the contestants. He had also contested regional council elections last time. This gives him a clear edge over all others. And the same is with Purushottam Khandelwal and Aniket Talati. Both of them are sitting managing committee members. Their visibility in the members make them more popular. In my opinion these three are in comfortable position.

If you ask me who after these three seem to be in comfort zone then only one name comes to my mind and that is Hiren Shah. He seems to have a wider appeal and good fan following. 

For rest four seats, I understand all the ten candidates have equal chances of winning and loosing. I consider all of them on equal footing and no one knows who does the wonders and what comes out of the ballot boxes.

The members will take their considered decision. They are very intelligent and know very well who has contributed what to the profession and how effective they could be for the branch.

And that is the reason everyone is trying to reach as many members as possible in this little time to ensure their chances. This is elections. No one can be complacent, and you never know what can change the whole game. What I see the chances of candidates is from my point of view, but this is all elections. No one can predict anything and you will see lots of surprises in the results. If you remember the results of the Central council, in south, north and central, the big names who had started canvassing for their VP elections, couldn't win even the central council election. So you know well.. Anything can happen with anyone..

યે પબ્લિક હૈ પબ્લિક, યે સબ જાનતી હૈ !!

ICAI Branch Elections: Ahmedabad

Welcome back to the election season. It's now turn of the branches. Here is the final list of the candidates contesting the Ahmedabad branch election scheduled on 9th March 2013. There are 8 members to be elected to the managing committee of the Ahmedabad branch. The no. of candidates in the fray are only 14. Not too bad, not even 2 candidates for one seat. 

Ahmedabad Branch Elections
Sr. No.	Name of the Candidate
1	Dave Sonal Sanjaybhai
2	Jain Vikash Kumar
3	Jani Hersh Samirbhai
4	Jha Satyendrakumar Krishnadeo
5	Khandelwal Purushottamlal
6	Parikh Mukesh Ochhavlal
7	Patel Amrish Jashvantlal
8	Patel Bhaumil Karamshibhai
9	Patel Chintan Nareshkumar
10	Pulavwala Murtuza H.
11	Shah Bishan Rameshchandra
12	Shah Hiren Dineshchandra
13	Talati Aniket Sunil
14	Tulsian Pradeep Govindram

Who stands the chance to win this battle? 

It is really very very difficult to predict anything in this election as the basic voting method has been changed now. It's going to be preferential voting method. In earlier elections, we have seen everyone was allowed to vote for 8 candidates and each vote carried equal value. That was the precise reason that we used to see two panels and people in one panel could have got their majority of candidates elected. So for example, I came to vote for Mr. X and when I vote for eight candidates, the seven candidates other than Mr. X would also got the equal value of votes and the powerful panel got the probability of getting more candidates elected.

But this has all changed now. Now when I go to vote for Mr. X, Mr. X will only get my highest and the value of the other candidates to whom I vote, will not have the same value as I will give them subsequent preferences. That makes this game more interesting. I will give my analysis on who has the best chance to win this battle. Who are those, who stands the chance to be in the top eight. I will write in my subsequent dispatches. Tomorrow and later. Today I will write on what is this preferential voting.

What is this new voting system - single transferable vote (STV)?

By CA Gopal Krishna Raju

What is STV: The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or unused votes are transferred according to the voter's stated preferences. The system minimizes "wasted" votes, provides approximately proportional representation, and enables votes to be explicitly cast for individual candidates. It achieves this by using multi-seat region (8 managing committee members for Ahmedabad branch) and by transferring votes to other eligible candidates that would otherwise be wasted on sure losers or sure winners.

150 year History of STV: The concept of transferable voting was first proposed by Thomas Wright Hill in 1821. The system remained unused in real elections until 1855, when Carl Andræ proposed a transferable vote system for elections in Denmark. Andræ's system was used in 1856 to elect the Danish Rigsraad.

Who: Although he was not the first to propose a system of transferable votes, the English barrister Thomas Hare is generally credited with the beginning of STV, and he may have independently developed the idea in 1857. Hare's view was that STV should be a means of "making the exercise of the suffrage a step in the elevation of the individual character, whether it is found in the majority or the minority." In Hare's original STV system, he further proposed that electors should have the opportunity of discovering which candidate their vote had ultimately counted for, to improve their personal connection with voting. This is unnecessary in modern STV elections, however, as an individual voter can discover how their vote was ultimately distributed by viewing detailed election results.

THE LEGENDARY QUOTA: THE QUOTA (THRESHOLD) IS THE NUMBER OF VOTES A CANDIDATE MUST RECEIVE TO BE ELECTED. THE HARE QUOTA AND THE DROOP QUOTA ARE COMMONLY USED TO DETERMINE THE QUOTA. WHEN THOMAS HARE ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED HIS VERSION OF SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE, HE ENVISIONED USING THE QUOTA AS: [VOTES POLLED / SEATS]

The Hare Quota

H2D: In the unlikely event that each successful candidate receives exactly the same number of votes not enough candidates can meet the quota and fill the available seats in one count. There is probability the last candidate cannot meet the quota, and it may be fairer to eliminate that candidate.

To avoid this inept situation, it is common to use the Droop quota instead of Hare Quota, which is always lower than the Hare quota.

Droop quota: ICAI Method: (Rule 35, Schedule 8: Procedure for Counting of Votes and declaration of results)

The ICAI quota formula is the Droop quota which given as: [Votes polled / (seats + 1)] + 1

The Droop Quota

Droop produces a lower quota than Hare. If each ballot paper has a full list of preferences, Droop guarantees that every winner meets the quota rather than being elected as the last remaining candidate after lower candidates are eliminated. The fractional part of the resulting number, if any, is dropped (the result is rounded down to the next whole number.)

It is only necessary to allocate enough votes to ensure that no other candidate still in contention could win. This leaves nearly one quota's worth of votes unallocated, but counting these would not alter the outcome.

Droop is the only whole-number threshold for which

(a)   a majority of the voters can be guaranteed to elect a majority of the seats when there is an odd number of seats;

(b)   For a fixed number of seats.

Each winner's surplus votes transfer to other candidates according to their remaining preferences.

Counting Single Transferable Votes

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system based on proportional representation and ranked voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most-preferred candidate. After candidates have been either elected (winners) by reaching quota or eliminated (losers), surplus votes are transferred from winners to remaining candidates (hopefuls) according to the surplus ballots' ordered preferences.

The system minimizes "wasted" votes, provides approximately proportional representation, and enables votes to be explicitly cast for individual candidates rather than for closed party lists. A variety of algorithms (methods) carry out these transfers.

COUNTING RULES

Under the single transferable vote system, votes are successively transferred to hopefuls from two sources:

·         Surplus votes (i.e. those in excess of the quota) of successful candidates

·         All votes of eliminated candidates.

The possible algorithms for doing this differ in detail, e.g., in the order of the steps. There is no general agreement on which is best, and the choice of exact method may affect the outcome.

1.    Compute the quota.

2.    Assign votes to candidates by first preferences.

3.    Declare as winners all candidates who received at least the quota.

4.    Transfer the excess votes from winners to hopefuls.

5.    Repeat step 2 to step 4 until new candidates are elected. (Caution: Under some systems, votes could be transferred in this step to earlier winners or losers. This might affect the outcome.)

If all seats have winners, the process is complete. Otherwise:

6.    Eliminate one or more candidates. Typically either the lowest candidate or all candidates whose combined votes are less than the vote of the lowest remaining candidate.

7.    Transfer the votes of the losers to continuing candidates are declared to be losers.

8.    Repeat step 2 to step 7 until all seats are full.