Govt wants to put in place system of online voting by overseas Indians

The government is toying with the idea of linking Aadhaar card with electoral rolls to check fraudulent voting and give online voting rights to Indians working abroad.

This was stated by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in Lok Sabha.

The proposal came in the backdrop of electoral fraud which the government considers a threat to healthy democracy.

“Linking Aadhaar with the electoral roll is one of the ways to curb malpractice. As of now, linking Aadhaar with electoral rolls is voluntary. Our aim is to ensure ‘one nation, one electoral roll’ to check double names in electoral rolls, check fraudulent voting and ensure a clean voting process,” Rijiju said.

Rijiju said the government has expressed its wish to the Election Commission to look into how this can be done.

“But before taking any decision, we have to ensure safety and transparency of the process.”

To a question raised by Congress MP Manish Tewari whether the source code of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) remains with the company, which manufactures the EVMs or is it passed on to the poll panel, the minister said no one should question EVMs.

“When I travel abroad, people say they have not seen such a good system in such a big country and everyone should appreciate the system,” he said.

The law minister added that India’s election system has been termed as the best in the world.

People say that they have not seen such a good system working in such a big country and everyone should appreciate the system, he said.

He said the government wants maximum voting and a healthy system. India’s election system has been termed as the best system in the world.

He also said there is no proposal under consideration of the government to enact any law to enforce compulsory voting in the country.

“We want maximum voting and a healthy system. People from the whole world appreciate our system,” he said.