People For Loksatta (PFL) submitted a representation to Vijayawada MP Mr. Lagadapati Rajgopal and as well to Narsaraopet MP Mr. Venugopal Reddy regarding ABSENTEE VOTING FOR NRIs in person on the occassion of Andhra Pradesh state formation day event at Sunnyvale temple in Bay Area.
Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a gazette notification in this regard.
People For Loksatta strongly expressed their disappointment to MPs Mr. Lagadapati Rajgopal and Mr. Venugopal Reddy about governments idea to ask NRIs to be present in the consituency on the Polling day. There are around 2.5 crore Indians living outside India and it is practically impossible for eligible NRI voters to travel to India during election time. In order to make this Bill amendment meaningful, Govt. of India should seriously consider providing ABSENTEE VOTING facility to all NRIs so that NRIs can vote from anywhere in the world irrespective of demographic challenges. Roughly, in US itself 1 Million NRIs holding Indian passport would be eligible to vote in India (Students 200,000, H1-B holders from the last 5 years- 300,000, Green cards holders -500,000). Election Commission is likely to soon finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls. In this context PFL urged the MPs to raise their voice and request for a bill amendment for ABSENTEE VOTING RIGHTS
Mr. Venugopal Reddy, MP from Narsaraopet constituency, expressed that it is a legitimate request and publicly announced in his speech that he will look into this matter personally to see where the issue stands and take next step. Vijayawada MP Mr. Lagadapati Rajgopal though was sympathetic to the cause expressed his opinion saying that the modalities should be cautiously formulated and studied in depth so that no section of people are left out in this process. He said a careful and thoughtful analysis needs to be done while articulating the process of providing a better way to cast the vote.
Contact details
PFL NRI Voting Rights team
[email protected]
http://www.nrivotingrights.info
