NRI to get voting rights soon: Centre
Once the law is amended NRIs can vote through their nominees residing in India.
New Delhi: The issue of NRI voting has received a major push with the Centre informing the Supreme Court on Friday that NRIs would be allowed to cast their vote in the Indian elections through proxy or an e-postal ballot system as suggested by the Election Commission.
Once the law is amended NRIs can vote through their nominees residing in India. According to the Election Commission under the e-ballot procedure, the NRI wishing to vote would have to send an application either electronically or physically to the returning officer six months before the expiry of the term of the House.
The Returning Officer (RO) may then verify the particulars of the person and at the time of election, on satisfaction, send the postal ballot electronically after the same is finalised on the last date of withdrawal of candidature, which the NRI elector can access through a password that would be allotted to him. The elector downloads the postal ballot paper and then casts vote and posts it back to the RO after getting the declaration attested, the Commission said.