Explained | What is the status of remote voting for NRIs?

The story so far: On the assurance of the Attorney General that the Centre was looking at ways to facilitate distance voting for non-resident Indians, mainly migrant labourers, the Supreme Court on November 1 disposed of a batch of petitions seeking remote voting for NRIs. A major reason for low NRI registration and voting despite India amending the Representation of the People Act in 2010 to enable eligible NRIs who had stayed abroad beyond six months to vote is the condition that they have to visit the polling booth in person. Editorial | Remote voting: On postal ballot for NRIs Both ETPBS and proxy voting are currently available to only service voters, like those in the armed forces or diplomatic missions. All political parties consulted by the ECI except the Bharatiya Janata Party were against proxy voting as they felt it could never be guaranteed that the proxy would vote as per the actual voter’s choice.