BJP meets EC to make process of voting for services digital

Ahead of next round of assembly elections, the BJP is trying to reach out to armed forces as the party Tuesday urged Election Commission to make the process of voting for services digital.

A BJP delegation, comprising union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and JP Nadda, met the EC and requested them to make voting process digital for armed forces so that they can exercise their franchise through the E-postal ballot.

The BJP has sought to make E-postal ballot procedure completely paperless. As of now personnel from armed forces were allowed to download blank postal ballot wired to them through the internet, ink their choice of candidate and send physically the completely filled paper to their respective returning officers through the post. The BJP delegation has asked the election watchdog to create e-infrastructure so that the personnel can mail postal ballot paper through the net to save valuable time, said Naqvi.

The EC has had some reservation over the two-way electronic transmission of the voting process on security and secrecy reasons. The party in its memorandum has sought that "adequate legal and administrative provisions and arrangements may be made to ensure the electronic submission of votes". 

The BJP also suggested the Commission to explore possible ways of acknowledgment of e-ballot in the same way as that of the VVPAT.

The party is also of the view that the EC should create more awareness about E-postal ballots so that more persons from armed forces, who are posted outside the places they are registered as voters, could use the available instrument to participate in the democratic exercise.

The move gains significance as assembly polls are going to take places in states such as Himachal Pradesh which houses many families that have services voters.

The BJP has got feedback that not many officials of armed and paramilitary forces are aware of the existing procedure which was introduced last year after the government had amended electoral rules to facilitate faster ways of voting.