VOTING RIGHTS TO NRI – POLITY
News: Considering ways to facilitate NRIs to cast vote remotely, Centre tells SC
What's in the news?
● The Union Government in the Supreme Court said it was considering ways to facilitate non-resident Indians (NRI), especially migrant laborers, to cast their votes remotely while ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
Key takeaways:
● Initially, the Bench said making the postal ballot facility available to soldiers serving in far-flung areas across the country was different from affording the same facility to someone who had chosen to reside abroad.
● The court, however, acknowledged that migrant laborers would often find it beyond their limited means to fly in just to cast their vote.
● Allowing NRIs to vote from abroad may see expatriates - a bulk of whom are migrant laborers, mostly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and northern parts of the country - emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral politics.
● The court noted that the government was aware of the issue and had even introduced a Bill to amend the Representation of the People Act to allow overseas Indians to vote by proxy.
● The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill had however lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
○ The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill of 2017 had proposed the removal of an “unreasonable restriction” posed by Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act requiring overseas electors to be physically present in their electoral constituencies to cast their votes.
What is the current strength of NRI voters?
● According to a UN report of 2015, India’s diaspora population is the largest in the world at 16 million people.
● Registration of NRI voters, in comparison, has been very low - a little over one lakh overseas Indian's registered as voters in India, according to the EC. In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, roughly 25,000 of them flew to India to vote.
What is the current process of voting for Indian citizens living abroad?
● An NRI can vote in the constituency in which her place of residence, as mentioned in the passport, is located.
● She can only vote in person and will have to produce her passport in original at the polling station for establishing identity.
● Voting rights for NRIs were introduced only in 2011, through an amendment to the Representation of the People Act 1950.
How has the existing facility worked so far?
● Low Proportion of Eligible Overseas:
○ From merely 11,846 overseas voters who registered in 2014, the number went up to close to a lakh in 2019. However, only a small proportion of such voters turned up to vote.
● Provision to Visit the Polling Booth Discouraged Eligible Voters:
○ The provision of having to visit the polling booth in person has discouraged eligible voters from exercising their mandate.
Viable option suggested by Election Commission:
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) and NRIs:
● According to the EC proposal, any NRI interested in voting through the postal ballot in an election will have to inform the Returning Officer (RO) not later than five days after the notification of the election.
● On receiving such information, the RO will dispatch the ballot paper electronically.
● The NRI voters will download the ballot paper, mark their preference on the printout and send it back along with a declaration attested by an officer appointed by the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country where the NRI is resident.
● It’s not clear, at this moment, if the voter will return the ballot paper herself through ordinary post or drop it off at the Indian Embassy, which may then segregate the envelopes constituency-wise and send them to the Chief Electoral Officer of the state concerned for forwarding to the RO
Significance of Overseas Indians:
● Remittances close to 90 billion dollars make an invaluable contribution by aiding in socio-economic development, poverty reduction and changes in consumption behavior in rural areas.
● NRIs are more prone to donating to domestic charities because of the strong cultural and emotional feelings that they experience.
● Diaspora acts as 'agents of change' facilitating and enhancing investment, accelerating industrial development, and boosting international trade and tourism.
● They act as “bridge-builders” between their home and adopted countries. The migration of labor (especially to West Asia) has also helped in bringing down disguised unemployment in India.
● Migration of skilled laborers to foreign countries and their eventual success bolstered the nation’s image.
● Diaspora’s motives to invest in India are in contrast to non-diaspora FDI. Their investments are long lasting as many of them wish to establish a long-term base in India.
Significance of voting rights to Overseas Indians:
● Allowing NRIs to vote from abroad may see expatriates emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral politics.
● NRI voters could be empowered better by amending the law.
● Purpose is to see that persons living outside India and migrant laborers are still part of the entire electoral process and every facility shall be extended which will also ensure the confidentiality of the election.
● Upheld their democratic right of voting and gave them their political power to choose his/her leader.
● It will allow them to make representation of their day-to-day issues to the elected representatives more firmly.
Issues of giving voting rights to NRIs:
● Issues of voting in person or by postal ballot.
● Not aware of the ground level politics.
● Fear of proxy or rigging of their voting rights:
○ Vote buying - There is a chance that someone else is casting the vote on behalf of the voter because the voter chooses to sell his or her vote.
● Fear of using money and muscle power on NRIs to demand vote for the particular party:
○ Freedom of voting & secrecy might be affected - As the voter will have voted on a printed ballot from their respective home, someone might observe the voter casting her/his vote. This might lead to coercion or forcing the voter to make a particular choice.
● Logistic challenges:
○ Reliability and delay of postal services - While the reliability and delay of postal services in one’s own country are well known to the election commission; conditions might be worse in other countries. Consequently, the postal voting process must start early enough to take into account any unforeseeable conditions.
Way forward:
● Government should consider the option of digital voting.
● The authorities concerned should take a call taking into account various factors and come to the best result satisfying most stakeholders.
With citizens increasingly moving between countries for work, the postal ballot method has been recognized as a means of allowing overseas voters to exercise their right to vote. However, there must be certain conditions that are normally associated with time spent abroad or work done abroad.