The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that it is ready to pilot remote voting for domestic migrants, so they don’t have to travel back to their home states to vote.
- The EC has invited all recognised eight national and 57 state political parties on January 16 to demonstrate the functioning of the RVM and has asked for their written views by January 31.
Why remote voting?
- This comes on the back of EC’s acknowledgement of migration-based disenfranchisement.
- The EC said it hopes that through this move, it will be able to boost voter turnout and strengthen India’s democratic process.
- The voter turnout in General Elections 2019 was 67.4% and the Election Commission of India is concerned about the issue of over 30 crore electors not exercising their franchise and also differential voter turnout in various States/Union Territories.
- Voters who are absent from their home locations on the day of polling, even if they wish to vote, are unable to travel to vote due to various reasons. This means that there is a large chunk of the population which is denied its franchise due to exigencies of work or lack of resources to travel. This goes directly against the EC’s “No voter left behind” goal.
About Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM)
- The EC has developed a prototype for a Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM) that can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
- The RVM was developed with the assistance of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). It is based on the currently used EVM system.
- The ECI said it has explored the option of using a modified version of the time-tested model of M3 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to enable voting at polling stations outside the home constituencies of migrants.
- The unique feature of RVMs is that a single Remote Ballot Unit (RBU) will be able to cater to multiple constituencies (as many as 72) by using a “dynamic ballot display board” instead of the usual printed paper ballot sheet on EVMs.
- The Ballot Unit Overlay Display (BUOD) will show the requisite candidates based on the constituency number read on the voter’s Constituency card. A barcode scanning system will be used to read these cards.
- After verifying a voter’s identity, their constituency card will be read with a public display showing the constituency details and candidates. This will also be displayed privately, on the BUOD in the RVM’s RBU. The voter will then vote and each vote will be stored constituency-wise in the control unit of the voting machine.
Benefits
- The initiative can lead to a social transformation for the migrants and connect with their roots as many times they are reluctant to get themselves enrolled at their place of work for various reasons such as frequently changing residences, not enough social and emotional connect with the issues of an area of migration, unwillingness to get their name deleted in the electoral roll of their home/native constituencies as they have permanent residence/property.
Amendments required
- Among the laws and rules which would need an amendment to implement remote voting is The Representation of People’s Act of 1950 and 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Challenges
- Administrative challenges: Enumerating remote voters-self declaration, ensuring secrecy of voting at remote locations, provision of polling agents at remote voting booths, and ensuring identification of voters to avoid impersonation.
- Appointment of polling personnel for remote polling stations and supervision thereof, the number of polling booths to be set up and their locations.
- The appointment of polling personnel for remote polling stations and implementation of Model Code of Conduct in remote locations.
- The method of remote voting, the familiarity of the voters with the Multi-Constituency Remote EVM and counting of votes.
