In order to make proxy voting available for NRIs, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended
In an significant decision, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws.
According to a source, for overseas Indians, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended to include proxy voting as other ways to cast their votes.
While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, as per the proposal cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday, they will also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel.
An expert committee in the Election Commission working on the issue had, in 2015, forwarded the legal framework to the Law Ministry to amend electoral laws to allow overseas Indians to use proxy voting.
The decision comes within days of the Supreme Court telling the Centre that granting voting rights to the 25 million-strong NRI population to vote in Indian elections from abroad had to be done at any cost.
The court had asked the Narendra Modi government to decide within one week how it planned to go about doing it.
The bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar was upset with the government for not bringing in the necessary amendments in the Representation Of Peoples Act to allow the voting by NRIs, despite repeated assurances to the court.
In December 2016, the Centre had said it accepted the EC's proposal in this regard, claimed it formulated a draft bill, and told the court that steps are being taken to get the Representation of People Act 1951 amended. But things had not moved since then.
AMENDING ACTS
- In order to make proxy voting available for NRIs, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended.
- An EC committee had forwarded a legal framework to Law Ministry on this.
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