What is the size of the NRI electorate?

• According to estimates, India has the largest diaspora population, with nearly 1.35 crore non-resident Indians spread across the globe. 
• Many of them are in the Gulf countries, the U.S. and the U.K. 
• As of now there are only 1.12 lakh registered overseas electors. 

How can overseas voters currently vote in Indian elections?

• Prior to 2010, an Indian citizen who is an eligible voter and was residing abroad for more than six months owing to employment, education or otherwise, would not have been able to vote in elections. This was because the non-resident Indians (NRIs) name was deleted from electoral rolls if he or she stayed outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.
• After the passing of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2010, eligible NRIs who had stayed abroad beyond six months have been enabled to vote, but only in person at the polling station where they have been enrolled as an overseas elector.
• Yet, the provision of having to visit the polling booth in person has discouraged eligible voters from exercising their mandate. Only a very low proportion of eligible overseas residents actually registered or turned up to vote. 

What has the government done so far?

• Since the in-person provision of the amended Act discouraged many, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court between 2013 and 2014 by NRIs. 
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) formed a Committee in 2014 on the Court’s direction to explore the options for overseas electors. The committee narrowed it down to two remote voting options — e-postal ballot and proxy voting.
• The Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) is developed by Election Commission of India with the help of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). It involves the NRI voter sending an application to the returning officer in person or online. The returning officer will send the ballot electronically. 

• The voter can then register their mandate on the ballot printout and send it back with an attested declaration. The voter will either send the ballot by ordinary post or drop it at an Indian Embassy where it would be segregated and posted. 
• It is a fully secured system, having two layers of security. Secrecy is maintained through the use of OTP and PIN and no duplication of casted Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot (ETPB) is possible due to the unique QR Code.
• Proxy voting, meanwhile, enables voters to appoint proxies to vote on their behalf.
• Both ETPBS and proxy voting are currently available to only service voters (being a member of the armed Forces of the Union; or a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950; a member of an Armed Police Force of a State, and serving outside that State; or a person who is employed under the Government of India, in a post outside India). 
• In its report, the ECI said proxy voting would be a “convenient” and “doable” method.

Criticisms

• Many political parties consulted by the ECI were against proxy voting as they felt it could never be guaranteed that the proxy would vote as per the actual voter’s choice. 
• In 2017, however, the government introduced a Bill to amend the Representation of People Act to remove the condition of in-person voting for NRIs and enable them to vote through proxies. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in 2018 but never introduced in the Upper House, eventually lapsing with the 16th Lok Sabha.
• In 2020, the ECI wrote to the Law Ministry that it was “technically and administratively ready” to facilitate ETPBS for NRIs but the External Affairs Ministry flagged “huge logistical challenges” relating to identity verification of voters, absence of polling agents, the burden on embassy staff etc.