NEW DELHI - The Indian government is considering a proposal from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow citizens living abroad to post their ballots.
In its letter to the federal Ministry of Law and Justice on Nov 27, the ECI said it is technically and administratively ready to offer the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) to voters abroad for elections next year in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The ETPBS is used to extend voting rights to those in India's armed forces and paramilitary services within the country, and to government officials posted abroad.
A spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told a media briefing last week it will be fully geared up to implement any proposal regarding Indian voters abroad "whenever any decision is taken in this regard".
Currently, non-resident Indians (NRIs) must travel to the constituencies in India where they are registered as voters to cast their ballots.
This prohibitive process has limited their electoral participation, prompting repeated requests to open up easier ways to vote.
Only 25,606 NRIs voted in last year's general election. Of these, 25,091 did so in the state of Kerala.
However, according to a December 2018 government estimate, there are more than 13 million NRIs, a vast majority of them in West Asian countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Under the ECI's postal ballot proposal, an NRI will be issued a postal ballot electronically after he informs a returning officer of his constituency in writing, using a prescribed form that should reach the returning officer at least five days after the notification of the election.
The NRI voter will then download and print the ballot paper, mark his preference and return it with a declaration attested by an officer appointed by the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country in which he lives.
The Indian Express, which first reported this development, has said it is not clear yet if the voter will return the ballot paper through ordinary post or drop it off at the local Indian mission, which may then send it to an electoral officer in India.
Mr O.P. Rawat, who retired as the country's 22nd chief election commissioner in December 2018, told The Straits Times a key concern would be to ensure that vulnerable migrant workers abroad - many of whom work in abject conditions - are able to vote freely and securely.
"Often their passports are retained by their employers and these workers can be coerced into voting according to their employers' choice, including through money," he said. "How does one check these kinds of malpractices? The ECI does not have the machinery to do so abroad."
Details about how the ECI plans to protect the postal ballot voting process for NRIs, including ensuring ballot secrecy, have yet to be made public. An ECI spokesman refused to comment any further on its proposal.
In India, officers appointed by the ECI are present at booths to ensure transparency.
"Not only that, even representatives of candidates from different political parties are at polling booths to ensure a person is properly identified and is not exercising his or her franchise under duress," said Mr Rawat.
The secure electronic delivery of postal ballots for voters currently under the ETPBS is possible, he added, because all ends are secured, including through the armed forces' cyber-security measures. "Whereas for NRIs, it will pass through the free Internet and may be hacked by some people."
These concerns were also flagged by Mr Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), in a letter to the ECI last Friday.
"Clearly, the issue is how to protect the secrecy and integrity of the ballot which will be received by the individual elector," he wrote, calling for an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed move.
A Bill allowing proxy voting for NRIs, whereby one could delegate his voting right to a representative, lapsed with the dissolution of the Lower House of Parliament in May last year.
While welcoming the move to introduce postal ballot voting for NRIs, Mr Rawat said it is also important to ensure that domestic economic migrants, several millions of whom live and work in places away from where they are registered as voters, are also allowed to vote through a similar process.
