With news coming in that the Election Commission of India is soon going to announce the dates of the 2019 general elections, there is no reason to delay registration for e-voting by non-resident citizens.

The stage is set for the 2019 general elections to the Lok Sabha –the lower house of the Indian Parliament.  Non-resident Punjabis keen to play a decisive role in the forthcoming elections must enroll online as voters on the website of the Election Commission of India.

Each voter is required to fill in Form 6a (presently available only in English, Hindi and Malayalam) and each voter can nominate a proxy under the rules under the Amendment to the Representation of the People Act 1950, adopted by the Indian Parliament in August last year.

Individuals who are citizens of the country and have not acquired or applied for citizenship of their country of residence and are Indian Passport holders are eligible for e-voting under the rules and regulations set by the Election Commission of India.

This is for the first time that proxy voting for citizens who are non-resident in the country is being allowed. Heretofore, expatriates were expected to be physically present in India and it has been estimated that barely 10 to 15 thousand of the 31 million prospective voters exercised their right to franchise.

As electioneering picks up in India with the formation of new parties and new alliances, it is time for voters also to get their act together. A good chunk of non-resident Indians are Non-resident Punjabis and the 2019 general elections to the Indian parliament provides them with an opportunity to appoint proxies for their voting rights.

The Non-resident Punjabis have played a significant role in the politics of Punjab –be it support to the cause of Sikh rights or the overwhelming logistical, emotional and practical support to the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. Prior to the 2014 general elections, both the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Congress in Punjab has been receiving substantial support individually and collectively from their overseas branches in countries like the US, UK, Canada and parts of Europe where there is overwhelming presence of their supporters.

Policy analyst Natasha Jha Bhaskar of the Observer Research Foundation has raised very a pertinent argument about the implementation of the e-voting process for NRIs. She says, “The implementation of it all, however, has its own challenges. Some opposition political parties believe that it could never be guaranteed that the proxy voter would vote as per the wishes of the actual voter. Proxy voting suffers from the inherent problem of ‘trust deficiency’, and violates the principles of ‘secrecy of voting’ and ‘free and fair elections.”

She further adds that, “Bribery and inducements of voters are strictly kept in check in elections. These are impossible to implement abroad. 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 inducements by employers and supervisors. A majority of foreign migrants are poor workers often at the mercy of their employers who even take their passports into custody.”

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If you would like to play a part in deciding who will be next Prime Minister or the party that will govern the country, do not delay and enrol online on the Election Commission of India website.