[Marxistindia] Sitaram Yechury writes to CEC, ECI on ECI's NRI voting framework

[news from the cpi(m)]

December 04, 2020
Press Release
 
Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, CPI(M) has written the following letter
to Shri. Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission
of India. We are herewith releasing the text of the letter for publication.
 
 
(For CPI(M) Central Committee office)
__________________________________________________________________
December 04, 2020
Shri Sunil Arora
Chief Election Commissioner
Election Commission of India
Nirvachan Sadan
New Delhi
 
Dear Shri Arora ji,
We are surprised and shocked to come across media reports that Election
Commission has forwarded a legal framework for facilitating the voting of
overseas Indians/NRIs to exercise their franchise in the upcoming assembly
elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Pondicherry.
At the outset, we would like to categorically state that the CPI(M) is in
favour of extending a more effective voting right to overseas Indians/NRIs
for participating in the election process of the country. The CPI(M) had
suggested the setting up of polling booths at our Embassy/Missions and other
facilities in different foreign countries to permit Indian citizens to cast
their votes in those countries where they are currently residing. This
practise is followed by many democracies in the world and conforms to the
practise of physical verification of the voters.
Our sense of shock flows from the blatant departure from the conventional
modus operandi adopted by the Election Commission of consultations with
political parties before finalising issues of such major import. It was in
2014 that the EC had first taken up the proposal to permit NRI voters to
cast their votes. The Commission had at that point of time held an all-party
consultation to discuss the possible methods to actualise a full proof
mechanism to ensure a 'free and fair' poll so far as the NRI voters are
concerned. Subsequently, the Supreme Court also upheld the rights of the Non
Resident Indians who are Indian passport holders to be able to more
meaningfully participate in the democratic electoral process. 
A bill to extend the facility of proxy voting to overseas Indians had lapsed
with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. The ECI's letter to the Law
Ministry now proposes to give postal voting rights not proxy voting to NRIs.
This means the government only needs to amend the Conduct of Election Rules
1961. It doesn't require Parliament's approval. 
The current reported proposal of the ECI has never been discussed at an
all-party consultation as is the normal practise and a well-established
precedent. It is clear that none of the alternatives which were part of the
study of the expert group commissioned by the ECI in 2015 to draw up a
concrete proposal could come up with a full proof arrangement.  
However, media reports suggest that ECI's proposal received by the Law
Ministry on 25th November states that any NRI interested in voting through
the postal ballot will have to inform the Returning Officer(RO) at least
five days after the notification of the election. On receiving such
information, the RO will despatch the ballot paper electronically. The NRI
voters will mark their preference on the ballot printouts and send them back
along with a declaration attested by an officer appointed by the diplomatic
or consular representative of India in the country where the NRI is a
resident.
It's not clear, at this moment, whether the voter will return the ballot
paper herself through ordinary post or drop it off at the Indian Embassy,
which may then segregate the envelops constituency-wise.
However, the current reported proposal of 'dispatching the ballot paper
electronically' is fraught with the challenge of manipulation. Seen against
the 'physical verifiability of the voter as an inviolable principle' for
casting the vote, ensuring it in the context of an overseas/NRI voter
through the electronic transmission of the ballot is clearly problematic.
The dispatch of the marked out ballot through the election authority at the
constituency level is another complex challenge. Clearly, the issue is how
to protect the secrecy and integrity of the ballot which will be received by
the individual elector. The fact that these voters are working in conditions
which are not immune from external influences including their foreign
employers is the most worrying factor.
Therefore, the CPI(M) is of the firm opinion that the Election Commission
should immediately convene an all-party meeting for deliberating the complex
issues involved in the effective extension of voting rights to NRIs at the
earliest, before moving further.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
 
(Sitaram Yechury)
General Secretary 
 
 
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