Thiruvananthapuram: The UDF came in support of the online voting process for expatriates while the Opposition LDF has raised apprehension during the all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday.
The LDF sought more time to examine the technical aspects of online voting. The LDF members also approved the chief minister’s suggestion to inform of their stand to the government before next Wednesday.
The meeting also decided to ensure that expatriate Malayalees would get the right to vote in the upcoming local bodies elections.
The meeting discussed the possibility of giving proxy votes to NRIs. As there are chances of irregularity in proxy voting, there was opposition to the suggestion from both LDF and UDF.
Mr Chandy said at the meeting that granting NRIs the right to vote is under the consideration of both central government and Election Commission of India.
The all-party meeting should decide on the type of voting to be implemented in the state and inform it to the Election Commission to help them take a decision.
The government had arranged facility for the expatriate Malayalees to come here and vote in the last Assembly elections. This was first of its kind in India.
Though, it was calculated that 10 per cent of expatriates would make use of the facility, only two to three per cent made use of it. Following this, a case came up before the court seeking a direction to the government to ensure voting for all expatriates.
