The day is not far when migrant voters may not be required to travel to their home States to cast their vote during elections.
The Election Commission (EC) has developed a prototype of the Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) for domestic migrant voters and has invited political parties for a demonstration on January 16.
The remote EVM can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth. According to the EC, the multi-constituency remote EVM can handle up to 72 constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
The EC has invited representatives of eight recognised national and 57 State political parties for the demonstration and sought their written submissions by January 31 on various related issues, including changes required in legislation, changes in administrative procedures and voting method or RVM technology, if any other, for the domestic migrants.
“Based on the feedback received from various stakeholders and demonstration of the prototype, the Commission will appropriately carry forward the process of implementing the remote voting method,” it said
According to officials, the idea was to implement voter portability as a pilot project in the upcoming Assembly elections in nine States in 2023. This means that if the pilot is successful then in the 2024 general elections voter portability can be fully implemented.
The EC concept note said that the migrant voter need not travel back to his/her home State/ district/ constituency to exercise his/her franchise of voting. According to EC, a remote voter has to pre-register for a remote voting facility by applying online/offline within a pre-notified time before elections with his home constituency returning officer. Voter details will be verified at the home constituency and the voter’s request for remote voting will be approved after successful verification by marking him/her as remote voter to participate as remote voter in a remote location (a location other than the voter’s home constituency). Special multi-constituency remote voting polling stations will be set up in the places of their current residence.
Terming counting of votes cast at remote booths and their transmission to the returning officer in other States as a “technological challenge”, EC officials said RVMs will be developed as “a robust, fail proof and efficient stand-alone system” based on existing electronic voting machines and will not be connected to internet.
“The initiative, if implemented, 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,” it said.
Terming the EC’s initiative as an “excellent initiative”, former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi welcomed the move of the poll panel to carry out a pilot, saying it will help smoothen difficulties faced by the system. “If EC has found an electronic solution, that is very good and it is very important that they are doing it democratically. They have called all political parties for a demo which is a good thing,” he said.
“Inability to vote due to internal migration (domestic migrants) is one of the prominent reasons to be addressed to improve voter turnout and ensure participative elections. Although there is no central database available for migration within the country, the analysis of available data in public domain points to work, marriage and education related migration as important components of domestic migration. Out-migration is predominant among the rural population in overall domestic migration. Approximately 85% of the internal migration is within the States,” the EC said.
The voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 67.4 per cent and the EC was concerned over the issue of over 30 crore electors not exercising their franchise and also differential voter turnout in various states and union territories, it said. “It is understood that there are multifarious reasons for a voter not opting to register in a new place of residence, thus missing out on exercising the right to vote. Inability to vote due to internal migration (domestic migrants) is one of the prominent reasons to be addressed to improve voter turnout and ensure participative elections,” the EC said.
The poll body has also floated a concept note on remote voting and sought the views of political parties on the legal, administrative and technological challenges in implementing it.
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.
The EC noted that there were multifarious reasons for a voter not opting to register in a new place of residence, thus missing out on exercising the right to vote.