Since long, the news that Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are entitled to vote online in upcoming Indian Lok Sabha elections are doing rounds on social media that are far from the truth.
Recently, the Election Commission of India rubbished the news saying the spread of any such erroneous information further would not be spared. In fact, the Election Commission had to file a police complaint about this, to check further spread of such news and take action against the offenders.
Sheyphali Sharan, the official spokesperson of the Election Commission of India issued a statement on Twitter, saying: “The social media posts informing those who hold an Indian passport, can now vote online, is fake news.”
It has come to our notice that the following FAKE NEWS is circulating on some WhatsApp groups.
It is clarified that you can only apply for voter registration online through https://t.co/oC8AwgyIdK portal pic.twitter.com/OTxjb1zFbA— Sheyphali Sharan (@SpokespersonECI) February 21, 2019
To begin with, there is no provision to vote online in Indian election norms. To exercise the Right to Adult Franchise, one has to in-person visit a polling booth.
The provisions of postal ballots and proxy voting are solely available only for government or armed forces personnel.
While an NRI holding an Indian passport can cast his/her vote from their respective hometown by registering as an Overseas Voter, they still have to be present in person on the day their constituency goes to polls.
Besides, those registering as overseas voters must fill Form 6A, which can be downloaded online or taken from the nearest Indian Mission.
The duly filled forms with supporting documents must be submitted to the Electoral Registration Officer in the constituency via post or in person. After verification, the ECI will add the NRI to the electoral rolls as an ‘Overseas Voter’. As soon as the person returns to India, he or she will have to re-register himself or herself as a general voter and obtain an EPIC card.
Taking into consideration that around 3.1 crore NRIs are settled in various countries across the globe, a special committee of the Election Commission gave approval for proxy voting. To alleviate this during the upcoming polls, The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was also passed in the Lok Sabha some time ago. However, it didn’t get passed in the Rajya Sabha and lapsed eventually.
By Sowmya Sangam
