Election Commission seeks Centre's nod to allow NRIs to vote through postal ballots: Report

Election Commission of India has approached the government to allow Non-resident Indians (NRIs) to vote through postal ballots.

A year ago, the Bill that proposed to extend voting for Indians living abroad fell through after the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

Currently, Indians living abroad can only vote in their respective constituencies restricting the right to very few living abroad registered voters.

Election Commission told the Law Ministry that the body is “technically and administratively ready” to extend the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) to NRI voters for upcoming elections next year in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, The Indian Express reported.

Approximately, about 1 crore Indians are living abroad and 60 lakh are considered to be of the voting age. With the postal ballot provision, NRIs can swing an election in some states, particularly Kerala, Punjab, and Gujarat, where a sizeable number of expats belong.

Under ETPBS, which only applies to service voters, the paper ballot will be sent electronically but received through regular mail. To permit this provision government only needs to amend the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 and it doesn’t require Parliament’s nod.

However, it is not clear whether the voter will themselves post the ballot or drop it at the Indian embassy.

As for the political parties, only the Nationalist Congress Party has expressed full confidence in the provision. BJP, BSP, and CPI are of the view that the postal ballots are viable due to time constraints. Congress had concerns with sending paper ballots electronically.