e-postal ballot for overseas Indian voters

Subject : Polity

Section: Election

Context:

The Law Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that an Election Commission proposal to facilitate Electronically-Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) for overseas Indian voters is under discussions with the Ministry of External Affairs.

What is the current process of voting by NRIs/overseas Indian voters:

Currently, Election Commission of India (ECI) allows NRIs to register as overseas electors as long as they have not acquired the citizenship of another country.
An NRI can vote in the constituency in which his/her place of residence, as mentioned in the passport, is located.
He/she can only vote in person and will have to produce her passport in original at the polling station for establishing identity.
Voting rights for NRIs were introduced only in 2011, through an amendment to the Representation of the People Act 1950.

What has been proposed by the EC:

To extend voting facility for NRI electors, EC had proposed the extension of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) facility to these voters.
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
- Voter above 80 years of age or person with disabilities (PwD)
- Voter who are under preventive detention
- Media persons (Journalist)
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.