Parliamentary panel questions proxy voting by NRI, suggests postal ballot

A member suggested polling booths could be set up at the Indian embassies and consulates across the world to enable the non-resident Indians (NRIs) to exercise their franchise

A parliamentary panel today questioned the "credibility" of proxy voting for NRIs, saying it opened the doors for malpractices and added that instead, the option of using technology or postal ballots could be explored.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, was today briefed on the "Voting Rights to NRIs" by Vijay Keshav Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, and G Narayana Raju, Secretary, Legislative Department.

At the meeting, the members expressed concerns over the credibility of proxy voting, saying that it could lead to malpractices, one of them said.

The members suggest Parl panel questions proxy voting for NRI, suggests technology, postal ballotsed the use of technology and a mechanism for online voting, instead of proxy voting, he added.

One of the members said polling booths could be set up at the Indian embassies and consulates across the world to enable the non-resident Indians (NRIs) to exercise their franchise.

The committee also asked the officials to brief them about the practices followed by other countries to register the votes of their non-resident citizens.

In August last year, the Union Cabinet had cleared a proposal to extend the facility of proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending the electoral laws.

While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of a proxy, which as of now are available only to the service personnel.

An expert committee of the Election Commission (EC) working on the issue had, in 2015, forwarded the legal framework to the law ministry for amending the electoral laws to allow overseas Indians use proxy voting.