Q. With reference to Voting rights of citizens in India, consider the following statements:
1. While the convicted person on bail can vote, the person in prison is not entitled to vote.
2. Undertrial prisoners are allowed to vote if their names are on the electoral rolls.
3. The person under preventive detention can cast his/her vote through postal ballots.
How many of the above-given statements are correct?
Exp) Option b is the correct answer
The right to vote is a constitutional right under Article 326 of the Constitution. Recently, the Supreme Court has decided to examine a petition challenging a provision in the election law that imposes a blanket ban on under trials and convicts serving their sentence in jails from casting their votes
Statement 1 is correct: It is true that a convicted person can vote if he/she is out on bail, while a person in prison irrespective of his/her conviction or nature of crime, cannot vote. Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, mandates that No person shall vote at any election if he/she is confined in a prison which means those who are outside prison can vote in elections.
Statement 2 is incorrect: Undertrial prisoners cannot vote even if their names are on the electoral rolls. This amounts to denying a large group of the population the right to vote. According to the National Crime Reports Bureau (NCRreport of 2021, there are over 4,27,165 undertrial prisoners in jails across India. Section 62(5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 states that No person shall vote at any election if he/she is confined in a prison, which includes under trial prisoners.
Statement 3 is correct: It is true that the persons detained preventive detention can cast their vote through postal ballots. Section 62(5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 states that those who are under preventive detention can cast their vote through postal ballot.
