E-voting by NRIs |
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, says he wonders how a Supreme Court decision of January 12, has gone unnoticed. The Supreme Court directed the Central government to enable e-voting by Non Resident Indians (NRIs) within eight weeks. A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and A K Sikri asked the Centre to inform it about `further steps taken to implement the suggestions` and posted the matter for a further hearing after eight weeks. He says that in 2010, the government allowed the NRIs voting rights, but the rules required them to be present in their constituency on the day of voting and to cast their ballots in the constituency covering the permanent address recorded on their Indian passport, which in many cases was long out of date. Only a few hundred of the estimated 4 to 10 million non-resident Indians have so far exercised their right to vote in this manner since 2010. On 14 November 2014, the Supreme Court asked the Centre for its views on allowing NRIs to cast their votes in Indian elections through proxy and postal voting (as security personnel serving away from home are allowed to do) and e-ballots. The new government in January 2015 has promised the Indian Diaspora more rights and opportunities -- told the Court that it supports this recommendation of the Election Commission. So NRIs unable to come to their home constituencies during elections in India will have two options available to them henceforth: those of voting through proxy voters in the same constituency whom they designate to vote on their behalf, and of an e-postal ballot received electronically and returned by post. Tharoor wonders if the 21st century solution of moving to electronic voting through secure means on the Internet, instead of postal ballot, has not yet been contemplated by authorities, even though it would infinitely simplify the process.
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