The topic of the voting rights of overseas voters is once again in the spotlight. While India has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to exercise their franchise, they can only cast their votes in person.The high cost of travel prevents many Indians living abroad from returning to their constituencies and voting. This has led to calls for giving them the right to vote through proxy voting or an electronic ballot system.Now, a parliamentary panel has reportedly endorsed remote voting for NRIs.AdvertisementLet’s take a closer look.The voting rights of NRIsNon-resident Indians are known as “overseas electors”.An overseas voter must be a citizen of India and have not acquired citizenship of another country, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Overseas voters are “absenting from his place of ordinary residence in India owing to his employment, education”.An NRI can enrol as a voter in the constituency where their Indian residence, as listed in their passports, is located, says the ECI.In 2010, India amended the Representation of the People Act to enable eligible NRIs who had lived in a foreign country for over six months to vote. Overseas electors have had the right to cast their ballot since 2011 but on the condition that they have to visit the polling booth in person.With an estimated 1.8 crore NRIs spread across the world, India has the largest diaspora in the world. They mainly reside in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf states, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.Editor’s Picks1Why low voter turnout is not just a 2024 problemThere was a huge dip in overseas voter turnout in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. As per a statistical report shared by the ECI, 1,19,374 NRIs were enrolled in the voter list, but just 2,958 turned up at their polling booths to exercise their franchise, reported Indian Express.In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 25,606 of the 99,844 registered overseas voters had cast their ballot. Most of these voters – 25,534 – were from Kerala.AdvertisementA major reason for the low NRI registration and poor overseas voter turnout is the mandate to vote in person.Debate over NRI remote votingThe
Election Commission has been exploring other ways to enable overseas voters to exercise their franchise.Earlier in 2014, the poll body had formed a panel on the Supreme Court’s direction to look into options for overseas electors.The committee came up with two remote voting methods –– e-postal ballot and proxy voting.The Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) involves the overseas voter obtaining the ballot electronically. They can then cast their vote on the ballot printout and return it with an attested declaration, either by an ordinary post or drop it at an Indian Embassy, as per The Hindu.AdvertisementProxy voting allows voters to appoint an individual to vote on their behalf.A woman gets her finger ink marked as she prepares to vote at a polling station, during the second phase of the general elections, at Bengaluru, in Karnataka, India April 26, 2024. File Photo/ReutersExcept for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all political parties consulted by the ECI at the time had opposed proxy voting.In 2018, the Lok Sabha passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill that granted the NRIs the right to vote through a proxy. However, the proposed legislation did not reach the Rajya Sabha and eventually lapsed.Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor in an opinion piece for ThePrint at the time had objected to proxy voting, saying it is “susceptible to misuse and electoral fraud”.Will NRIs be able to vote remotely?The Parliamentary Panel on External Affairs, headed by Congress’ Tharoor, has called for empowering overseas electors to vote remotely through proxy voting or ETPBS, reported Economic Times (ET).The panel is slated to submit its report on the Indian diaspora on Thursday (March 27). As per ET, it has suggested proxy voting or e-postal ballots for NRIs, pointing out that the electoral rights of overseas voters appear sidelined due to the current system.AdvertisementIn its report, the panel also raised concerns about the surge in NRIs who have abandoned their Indian citizenship or have dual nationality.The panel has urged the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to raise the matter of the NRI voting rights with the Law Ministry and the ECI. The issue is currently being reviewed by the Law Ministry.Former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has also previously batted for enabling NRIs to vote remotely.“India’s growing aspirations for its rightful place in the world order require (us) to show deep commitment to the Election Commission’s moto of ‘No voter to be left behind’ (and) it is, therefore, the right time to enable our Non-Resident Indians to vote from outside the country,” he said in his farewell address in February.AdvertisementWith inputs from agenciesMore from Explainers
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