Background:
Up until 2010, an Indian citizen who was an eligible voter and was residing abroad for more than six months for reasons such as education, employment etc, was ineligible to vote in elections.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) names in the electoral rolls would be deleted, thus would be ineligible to cast their votes.
The 2010 amendment to the Representation of People Act paved way for NRIs to vote, those who stayed beyond the borders for more than six months and were considered eligible for voting in person at the polling station.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the Law Ministry over exploring the option of extending the postal ballots to eligible overseas, non-resident Indians (NRIs) for assembly elections in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
The story so far
The response from overseas voters has been lukewarm, the bulk of the voting from overseas voters has been witnessed in the state of Kerala.
The RPA envisages voters as “ordinary residents” in a constituency, thereby provides an opportunity for NRIs to vote in their respective constituency.
Why poor response?
The condition of having to be present physically has dissuaded many from casting their votes during elections.
Thus calling for postal ballots to be extended to them, like how it has been currently available to the ‘service voters’.
Service voters are those too who
belong to the Army
to whom the Army Act 1950 apply.
serving outside the state.
employed under the Government of India, in a post outside India.
The lapsed bill
In 2017, a bill to amend the RPA to enable postal voting to NRIs was tabled in the Parliament.
The bill provided for overseas voters to be able to appoint a proxy to cast their vote, provided they comply with the conditions laid down in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, but the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System(ETPBS)
The Conduct of Election Rules,1961 was amended in 2016 to allow service voters to make use of ETPBS
The service voter has to download the ETPB, register their mandate and send it to the returning officer of the particular constituency via ordinary mail.
The posted ballot has to reach the returning officer by 8 in the morning on the day of counting.
To extend ETPBS to overseas voters require amending the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. The process will be very similar to what is being followed for service voters in the country currently.
The overseas voter has to notify the returning officer within 5 days of notification of election.
The returning officer will send the postal ETPBS, the overseas voter has to download, register the mandate and send it back with an attested declaration.
The viability of ETPBS
The Lok Sabha election of 2019 saw an increased voter turnout courtesy ETPBS.
An election gains credibility with increased voter turnout, ETPBS has been recognized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance as an effective way to allow overseas voters to cast their mandate.
Postal ballots have been seen as a secure and convenient way to cast votes, this is seen during the US Presidential elections as well especially owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusion
A postal ballot system that allows for proper safeguards to ensure there are no malpractices involved will only contribute to increasing the voter turnout.
An election in a democracy will benefit from more participation and the postal ballot offers one such opportunity and also it will enable the overseas voters to enjoy their constitutional right.
The Mockingbird 