Indian expats will have to wait for online voting
Apex court dashes hopes as it accepts list of difficulties
TRIVANDRUM — Non-resident Indians (NRIs) will not be able to exercise their franchise in the ongoing general elections in the country from their overseas locations.
A division bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan dashed the hopes of the expatriates on Friday by accepting the Election Commission stand that it was not possible to introduce online or postal voting for the NRIs after the commencement of the election process.
The panel reiterated its stand in response to the apex court’s April 7 direction to explore the possibil- ity of facilitating online voting before the counting of votes on May 16. The commission counsel pointed out several practical difficulties in this regard.
The panel had earlier informed the court that it was examining the possibility of allowing online voting to the diaspora and added that they were planning to set up an expert panel to suggest measures for implementing the same.
The counsel had pointed out the need for amending the People’s Representation Act for allowing the postal voting to the expats. The government had not considered this while amending the Act for granting voting rights to the NRIs.
According to the law amended in 2010, registered NRI voters can cast their votes only by being present in the constituency on the polling day. The petitioner, a Dubai-based non-resident Keralite (NRK), filed the petition for external voting saying this was not practical since the number of Indians living abroad was more than 25 million.
The apex court observed that the petition filed by Dr V.P. Shamsheer had lost its relevance since he had mainly sought the facility for the elections in Kerala and New Delhi, where the elections are already over. Therefore, the division bench has asked the petitioner to revise his petition or file a new one.
The court has agreed to conduct a detailed hearing into the plea after the conclusion of the election process. The Election Commission has been asked to file their response by then.
Facility for voting from their place of residence has been a longstanding demand of NRIs, especially Keralites from the Gulf countries, who are keen to participate in the electoral process. This is evident from the number of registrations.
Out of 11,844 registered voters, as much as 11,400 are from Kerala. Several of them came to the state to cast their votes this time. A group from Dubai even chartered a flight to provide facility to the registered voters to cast their votes.
dubai — With the Indian parliamentary elections well under way and with them recording good voter turnouts, will non-resident Indians (NRIs) too be able to vote this season? The Election Commission of India last week informed the Supreme Court that it is exploring the possibility of giving Indians overseas the chance to vote through the Internet.
However, chances of this materialising seem slim, as a court bench headed by Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan said that it is near impossible to make these arrangements for NRIs this year as electoral rolls have already been finalised in almost all constituencies.
In Dubai, there are mixed responses to whether the online voting option for NRIs of the world’s largest democracy would materialise, and if so, is it a good thing.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Bharatbhai Shah is an emphatic, yet perhaps minority, voice in saying NRIs should NOT be allowed to vote.
According to Shah, voting rights to NRIs would tamper with the unity and harmony of the Indian community in the Gulf. Shah thinks if this right is allowed, then political parties will come to campaign here and this “wouldn’t be appreciated by the local government”.
The Supreme Court bench in India though asked the Election Commission to look into the possibility of introducing such a system in this election itself for the 11,844 registered NRI voters.
The commission submitted that it has appointed a committee to explore the possibility of allowing NRIs to cast their votes from overseas.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Dubai-based NRI Shamsheer V. P. who was travelling when Khaleej
Times tried to contact him, as his office manager said.
Shamsheer’s contention is that the existing provision which man-
Of the 11,400 registered voters, the Malyalees at least have been demanding for a long time the right to exercise their franchise from overseas
K. V. Shamsudheen
dates NRI voters to be physically present in the constituency to exercise their votes is discriminatory and that it violates the fundamental rights of even NRIs.
Kamlesh Skaria is 29 and works as a domestic cook in at least five homes in Dubai. A native of Kolkata, Kamlesh wishes he could vote out Mamata Bannerjee from his home state. Last elections, he voted for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and this time too, he said if he were back home, he would vote “didi”, as Mamata is popularly known’, out. The concept of online voting was unheard of for Kamlesh, but he expressed interest in the possibility of being able to cast a vote for Kolkata sitting in Karama.
K. V. Shamsudheen, chairman of the Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, is all for e-voting for NRIs. “Of the 11,400 registered voters, the Malyalees at least have been demanding for a long time the right to exercise their franchise from overseas,” he said.
“The only way for that to happen is if the biometric system comes into play and retains the sanctity of the secret ballot. Voting for NRIs is a right that should be granted by the government.”
The Government of India had permitted it but as Shamsudheen says, “the unfortunate condition is the NRI must be present in his/ her home constituency, and that is not possible for us to go back to vote”.—