Voting Rights for Overseas Citizens

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06 Apr Voting Rights for Overseas Citizens

Posted at 06 Apr 2022 in Current Affairs by
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Voting Rights for Overseas Citizens – Today Current Affairs

Union Minister for Law and Justice in response to a question in the Lok Sabha stated that the government was exploring the possibility of allowing online voting for non-resident Indians (NRI).

Today Current Affairs

Background

  • In 2017, the government proposed to remove the restriction imposed by Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, which required them to be physically present to vote in their constituencies.
  • The Bill provided for overseas voters to be able to appoint a proxy to cast their votes on their behalf, subject to conditions laid down in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
  • The Bill was later passed in 2018 but lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
  • The ECI then approached the government to permit NRIs to vote via postal ballots similar to a system that is already used by service voters, (a member of the armed Forces of the Union; or a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950 which is the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System or ETPBS.

Current Status of Voting for Overseas Citizens : The Hindu Analysis

  • After the passing of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2010: NRIs who had stayed abroad beyond six months have been able to vote, but only in person at the polling station where they have been enrolled as an overseas elector.
  • However, only a very low proportion of overseas residents actually registered or turned up to vote.
  • The provision of having to visit the polling booth in person has discouraged eligible voters from exercising their mandate.
  • In the case of overseas voters: their address mentioned in the passport is taken as the place of ordinary residence and chosen as the constituency for the overseas voter to enrol in.

Previous mandate : The Hindu Analysis

  • Prior to 2010: an Indian citizen who is an eligible voter and was residing abroad for more than six months would not have been able to vote in elections.
  • This was because the NRI’s name was deleted from electoral rolls if he or she stayed outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.

Today Current Affairs

How has the existing facility worked so far?

  • From merely 11,846 overseas voters who registered in 2014, the number went up to close to a lakh in 2019.
  • The Representation of the People Act: envisaged voters as only the “ordinary residents” in a constituency who will choose representatives to represent their local interests while meditating on larger issues in the legislature.
  • Some democracies that already allow absentee voting stipulate that overseas electors are eligible to vote provided they are not abroad for a specified period of time and/or if they mention“intent to return”.
  • Section 20-1A, Part III of the Representation of the People Act addresses this to some extent by qualifying “a person absenting himself temporarily from his place of ordinary residence shall not by reason thereof cease to be ordinarily resident therein”.

Are postal ballots a viable means of voting? The Hindu Analysis

  • The ETPBS method allowed for greater turnout among service voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
  • With increasing mobility of citizens across countries for reasons related to work, the postal ballot method has been recognised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (an intergovernmental organisation that works to support democratic processes and institutions) as a means to allow overseas voters to exercise their right, subject to certain conditions normally related to the time spent abroad or the work carried out abroad.
  • A postal ballot mechanism that allows for proper authentication of the ballot at designated consular/embassy offices and an effective postal system should ease this process for NRIs, but rules must be clearly framed for eligibility on the basis of time spent away from the country.

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