Lok Sabha passes bill to allow proxy voting by NRIs
The Lok Sabha passed a bill on Thursday to allow ‘proxy voting’ for overseas Indians registered to vote. After moving the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad addressed objections by saying “let us trust the (non-resident Indians) NRIs about proxies.” According to estimates by the ministry of external affairs, there are about 31 million NRIs living in different countries across the world.
bill to extend the facility of ‘proxy voting’ to overseas Indians, on the lines of service voters, was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Moving the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017 for consideration and passage, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the provision would help non-resident Indians (NRIs) take part in the electoral process.
The bill, which was passed by a voice vote in the Lower House, proposes that overseas Indians, who are entitled to vote in India, can now appoint a proxy voter who will cast their votes.
As of now, overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in their registered constituencies. The bill seeks to give them the option of proxy voting, which is currently available only to service personnel.
Responding to objections expressed by members, Prasad said “let us trust the NRIs about proxies.” There are about 3.10 crore NRIs living in other countries, as per an estimate of the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
Prasad said that the country needed to respect and recognise the achievements of NRIs.
While framing the rules, the government will ensure the system is not misused, he said, adding “proxy is not a dirty word. It is a legal word...a defined word.”
On the issue of allowing migrant workers to vote without having to travel to their constituencies, the minister said it was a “work in progress...our sympathies are with them...they should be given the right to vote.”
Some members demanded that the facility of postal ballots be extended to migrant workers.
On the demand for e-voting, Prasad said there were several difficulties in implementing such a scheme in India. There are several security concerns, he said, adding that even developed nations had not adopted the e-voting system.
An expert committee of the Election Commission of India (ECI), had in 2015 forwarded a legal framework to the law ministry to amend electoral laws to allow the overseas Indians to use proxy voting.
Another provision in the amendment bill relates to the spouses of service voters. At present, the wives of army personnel are entitled to be enrolled as service voters, but a the husbands of woman personnel are not, according to the provisions in electoral law.
The bill proposes to replace the term ‘wife’ with ‘spouse’, thus making the provision genderneutral.
Members of the armed forces, central armed police forces, personnel of state police forces posted outside their state and employees of the Centre posted outside India are eligible to be enrolled as service voters.
Partipating in the debate, Mohammed Salim of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said this was an important bill and should be forwarded to a standing committee for further scrutiny.
He also accused foreign missions of distributing literature to influence the voting pattern in favour of the ruling party.
Dharamvir Gandhi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said he was not in favour of proxy voting as it could lead to misuse. The government, he said, should introduce e-voting for NRIs.
Prem Singh Chandumajra of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said the proposal would allow NRIs to remain connected with the country. As regards migrant workers, he said, provisions should be made to allow them vote at their place of residence.
Dushyant Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) wanted to know how the government would facilitate voting of lakhs of NRIs living in countries like the US, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Raising concerns, R Gopalakrishnan of the AIADMK said this facility could be misused by political parties by persuading proxies appointed by the NRIs.
It could lead to vote trading, he said, adding e-voting should be allowed so that the voters could cast their vote directly without any role of a proxy.
Anandrao Adsul of the Shiv Sena said when the Constitution talks of ‘one Indian one vote’, how can a proxy cast multiple votes.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said the bill violated many provisions of the Constitution including Article 19. It is against a levelplaying field as regional parties will not have the wherewithal to campaign in foreign countries, he said.
It only suits the ruling party as they “have the entire government machinery including embassies to garner support for them,” he added.