E-POSTAL BALLOT FOR OVERSEAS INDIAN VOTERS – POLITY
News: EC’s
proposal on allowing e-postal ballot for overseas Indian voters under
discussion: Law Minister tells Rajya Sabha
What's in the news?
● The
Election Commission of India (EC) has proposed to change the rules pertaining
to the conduct of elections to facilitate the electronically-transmitted postal ballot system for overseas Indian
voters and the matter is being discussed with the Ministry of External
Affairs to “iron out” logistical challenges in implementing it.
Overseas voters:
Current system for overseas voters:
● Currently,
the Election Commission of India (ECI) allows enrolled overseas citizens to vote in person at the polling station in the
constituency where the person is registered as an overseas elector by producing
their passport.
● Total
number of overseas voters is 1.15 lakh.
● This
was evident in the numbers of such voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election,
25,606 among the minuscule 99,844 registered electors who voted.
Election Commission of India Recommendation:
● In
2020, the ECI approached the Government to permit NRIs to vote via postal
ballots, similar to the system already used by service voters, i.e., the
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS).
● The
Election Commission of India has taken up a proposal to amend the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 to facilitate
electronically-transmitted postal ballot systems for overseas electors.
● On
the recommendation of the EC, the Representation
of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2018 to enable overseas electors to cast
their vote, either in person or by proxy, was passed by the Lok Sabha in August
2018.
● The
Bill had been pending in the Rajya Sabha for consideration but lapsed when the
16th Lok Sabha was dissolved.
Proposal of Election Commission:
● According
to the EC proposal, any NRI interested in voting through the postal ballot in
an election will have to inform the Returning
Officer (RO).
● RO
should be informed in a time period not later than five days after the
notification of the election.
● On
receiving such information, the RO will dispatch
the ballot paper electronically.
● The
NRI voters will download the ballot paper, mark their preference on the
printout and send it back.
● This
ballot is to be sent back along with a declaration attested by an officer
appointed by the consular representative
of India in the country where the NRI is resident.
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System:
● ETPBS
enables the voters to cast their vote on an electronically received postal
ballot from their preferred location.
● ETPBS facility is so far
available to:
○ Members
of the armed forces and central armed police forces posted outside their home
constituencies.
○ Members
of Indian embassies and diplomatic missions.
○ Voters
on election duty.
○ Voters
above 80 years of age or person with disabilities (PwD)
○ Voters
who are under preventive detention.
○ Media
persons (Journalist).
International Practices:
● Countries
such as the United States, Argentina, Russia, Estonia, Thailand and South Korea
in the past have utilised the blockchain methods for conducting voting
processes for their citizens, with a fair share of positives and negatives
deriving consequentially.
Advantages:
1. Breaks the geographical barriers:
● The
remote voting project aspires to enable voters residing in remote locations,
away from their designated polling stations, to cast their ballot in a secured
fashion.
● In
each election, thousands of voters have to forego their right to vote on
account of a geographical barrier.
2. Flexibility in voting:
● The
individual can cast his/her vote from multiple locations and not solely from
one registered polling station.
3. Increasing turnout in elections:
● This
was evident in the numbers of such voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election,
25,606 among the minuscule 99,844 registered electors who voted.
● It
will ensure more eligible voters cast their votes which will help in including
more voters.
4. Upholding their Constitutional rights:
● Article 326
provides that every citizen of India not less than eighteen years of age on
such date as may be fixed on that behalf by law and is not otherwise
disqualified and shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such
election.
● Remote
Voting can help us move closer towards this.
5. Removing the amount spending on travel:
● NRI
who are working a manual job temporarily
outside have to afford high costs for their travel during election time.
This e-ballot system will remove the necessity of voting in person.
Concerns:
1. Privacy issues:
● It
saves user's biometrics and other
data which can be misused by hackers and other parties that would undermine the
right to privacy.
● Stealing
biometric information at the pre-voting phase, or infecting the blockchain
during the counting phase, both stand as equally dangerous issues in a
democratic setup.
2. Non Reliability of voting:
● The
reliability of the voting casted by the voters is questioned in the e-ballot
voting system.
● O.P.
Rawat, who was the CEC in 2018, agreed that if the security of EVMs that are standalone devices was questioned from
time to time, then Internet-based voting would have even more issues and
critics.
3. Increase burden of embassy officials:
● Embassy
officials will bear additional burden of the remote electoral process, thus affecting their routine primary job.
4. Cyber risk:
● The
risk of hacking and changing the
vote casted by the voters is high in e- ballot systems.
● Remote
Voting is based on blockchain, therefore it might be attacked by hackers which
would distort the final result.
5. Logistical challenges:
● The
E-ballot system requires a lot of manpower,
transportation and monitoring.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Sensible use of new technologies:
● It
can be stated that blockchain technology in elections is a double-edged sword and one needs to ponder upon whether there are
additional complications that arise out of the same.
2. Strong Political consensus:
● Strong
political consensus is required to implement this method.
● The
existing laws will have to be amended to undertake that gigantic exercise which
also requires political consensus.
3. Privacy issues:
● The
issue of individual privacy and data protection in the course of collation, authentication of personal data for
blockchain elections require significant deliberation.