Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill of 2017: proposes facilitation of proxy voters

Context:

• The government introduced the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill of 2017, during the 2017 winter session of Parliament.
• It proposes to eliminate the Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, which requires overseas electors to be physically present in their electoral constituencies to cast their votes.

The Representation of the People Act, 1950 (Section 20A):

Section 20A lays down the special provisions for citizens of India residing outside India. They are as follows:

• Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, every citizen of India,—
  • whose name is not included in the electoral roll;
  • who has not acquired the citizenship of any other country; and
  • who is absenting from his place of ordinary residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise outside India (whether temporarily or not), shall be entitled to have his name registered in the electoral roll in the constituency in which his place of residence in India as mentioned in his passport is located.
• The time within which the name of persons referred to in sub-section (1) shall be registered in the electoral roll and the manner and procedure for registering of a person in the electoral roll under sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed.
• Every person registered under this section shall, if otherwise eligible to exercise his franchise, be allowed to vote at an election in the constituency.

What is the reason for the 2017 Representation of the People Amendment Bill?

• Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act provides for registration and inclusion of overseas electors in the electoral rolls.
• Additionally as per the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 the overseas electors needs to exercise their franchise in person at the specified polling booth.
• Thus, the rules demand for the physical presence of overseas electors in their respective polling stations in India on the day of polling which causes hardship to the overseas electors.
• This amendment proposes facilitating an external mode of voting, that is, voting by proxy.

What is voting by proxy?

• According to the provisions of ‘Representation of the People Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017 overseas Indians, who are entitled to vote in India, can appoint a proxy voter to cast their votes on their behalf.
• Also, the oversea Indians would be allowed to use the option of proxy, which till now was only available to service personnel.

What are the possible drawbacks of the proxy voters? 

• It threatens the very core of democracyas the special treatment violets the fact that there are many times more domestic migrants who also seek to have a voting right at their homes.
• The proxy voter may cast vote for the candidate who is not desired by oversea Indians.
• There can be no guarantee of NRI voters exercising their vote in a free and fair manner as there can be no check on coercion or inducement by the employers.
• There is no guarantee that votes would not be sold to the so called proxy.
• There is no fixed number of votes a proxy could cast in an election.

Conclusion:

• The government’s decision to allow NRIs to vote from overseas could emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral politics as there are 114 countries that conduct such voting.