Q. Consider the following statements:
1. Postal voting is the facility though which voters can cast vote by sending ballot paper to the election officer.
2. Proxy voting is a facility through which a registered elector can delegate his/her voting power to a representative.
3. Members of armed forces can vote both through postal voting and proxy voting.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Exp) Option c is the correct answer
Currently Voting in in an Indian election can be done through three ways- in person, by post and through a proxy.
Statement 1 is correct. Postal voting is a facility through which a voter can cast her vote remotely by recording her preference on the ballot paper and sending it back to the election officer before counting.
Statement 2 is correct. Under proxy voting, a registered elector can delegate his voting power to a representative. This was introduced in 2003 for elections to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies, but on a limited scale.
Statement 3 is correct. Members of armed forces can vote both through postal voting and proxy voting. A “classified service voter” is allowed to nominate a proxy to cast vote on his behalf in his absence. A “classified service voter” includes members of the armed forces, BSF, CRPF, CISF, General Engineering Reserve Force and Border Road Organisation. They can appoint a proxy as long as the proxy, too, is a registered voter in the same constituency. Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India and their spouses are entitled to vote by post i.e., through postal voting.
| Important Tips Other categories who are entitled to vote by post: • Voters under preventive detention can vote only by post. • Special voters such as the President of India, Vice President, Governors, Union Cabinet ministers, Speaker of the House and government officers on poll duty have the option to vote by post. But they have to apply through a prescribed form to avail this facility. • Recently, the Law Ministry, at the Election Commission’s behest, introduced a new category of ‘absentee voters’, who can now also opt for postal voting. These are voters employed in essential services and unable to cast their vote due to their service conditions. Currently, officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Northern Railway (Passenger and Freight) Services and media persons are notified as absentee voters. |
