Updated: December 15, 2020 8:23:55 pm
The EC, for now, has not included the Gulf countries in its proposed pilot.
In a meeting held last week with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA), the Electoral Commission (EC) has indicated to the government the countries where would like to see voting by mail introduced for NRIs on a pilot basis.
The proposal can be implemented first for voters in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and South Africa.
For now, Gulf countries are not part of the proposed pilot.
What is the reason why the EC excluded the Gulf countries, which have a significant Indian diaspora, from the proposed pilot?
The Commission obviously has nothing against the NRIs installed in the Gulf countries like Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, the MEA has in the past expressed strong reservations about making it easier for Indian citizens living in undemocratic nations to vote.
Conducting a democratic exercise, involving voters queuing outside Indian missions and embassies, in non-democratic countries, will require permits, and the host country may not approve it.
Given these concerns, the EC, for now, has not included the Gulf countries in its proposed pilot.
What is the current strength of NRI voters?
According to a 2015 UN report, India’s diaspora population is the largest in the world at 16 million people.
NRI’s voter registration, by comparison, has been very low – just over 1 lakh of foreign Indians registered as voters in India, according to the EC.
In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, approximately 25,000 of them flew to India to vote. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
Which foreign countries have the highest number of NRIs registered as voters in India?
The EC does not have data on NRI voters broken down by country. Rather, the Commission maintains data for all states in India.
Therefore, we know the states in which NRIs are registered as voters, but not the foreign country in which they reside.
Out of 1.18 lakh of NRI voters, the largest number, around 89,000, are registered to vote in Kerala. The second largest cohort (approximately 7,500) is recorded in Andhra Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (approximately 5,500), Karnataka (approximately 4,500), Tamil Nadu (3,200) and Telangana (2,500).
However, since the poll panel is now interested in allowing foreign voters to vote in Indian elections from abroad, it will also have to maintain domestic information.
If approved, how will voting by mail work for NRIs?
In its meeting last week with the MEA, the EC proposed that any NRI interested in voting by mail ballot in an election should inform the Return Officer (RO) no later than five days after notification of the election. . Upon receiving such information, the RO will send the ballot electronically.
A designated official in the Indian mission will download the ballot on behalf of the voter and deliver it to the voter abroad. The voter abroad can mark his or her preference at the mission, obtain the self-declaration form certified by the designated official, and return the ballot and declaration form in a sealed envelope to the mission.
The mission will then send all the envelopes to the election official in question.
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