Election Commission moots voting by post, proxy for NRI voters

Kochi: A committee constituted by the Election Commission of India on Thursday submitted before Supreme Court that the country can consider granting voting rights for Non-Resident Indians either by postal ballot or proxy voting. The committee in its report stated that Internet voting was not feasible option owing to the vulnerabilities in the technology and IT applications.

According to the committee postal ballot, where postal ballot paper is transferred electronically to NRI and returned by post by NRI can be considered. The process can be used after proofing, validation of the process and pilot implementation in one or two constituencies in elections to the Legislative Assemblies and then scale up to more Assembly elections and finally parliamentary elections if found feasible. The committee also recommended that the option of voting through proxy appointed by the overseas electors.

The committee considered the fact that large number of countries has more than one voting options available to overseas voters. The committee also recommended for making the necessary amendments to the Section 60 of Representation of the People Act, 1951 to legalise the voting process of NRIs. The committee was constituted as per the request of the Election Commission and the apex court had asked the committee to file a report on NRI voting.