NRI

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Can NRIs vote in Indian elections

9 April, 2019

Sydney, Australia

Can NRIs (Non-resident Indian’s) vote in Indian elections?

It’s answer is YES, but it’s complex and not easy. https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/fact-check-can-nris-vote-in-this-general-elections/article26520133.ece/amp/

If you have obtained a passport of any foreign country, you are not permitted to vote in India. Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holding foreign citizens are not permitted to vote in Indian elections either. OCI is not equivalent to Indian passport.

Photo of an Indian Passport

If you have an Indian passport, and haven’t acquired any overseas passport, you can vote, but only in the polling booth of your constituency in India. You will need to travel to India and then vote on the day of election. Online or proxy voting is not allowed for NRIs at present. Pre-poll and postal voting are also not allowed for NRIs.

Every voter in India must be registered for electoral rolls (voters’ list). This can be done online http://ecisveep.nic.in/voters/overseas-voters/ by filling form 6a (and by providing necessary documents) or submitting necessary documents in the election office in your constituency in India. NRIs can thus be registered as overseas voters. This can be then used for voting in a polling station in your registered constituency in India on the day of election.

You may or may not know that ECI was not in favour of online voting for NRIs, but was in favour of proxy voting for NRIs. Indian Government moved a bill in the Lower House of the Parliament to allow proxy voting for NRIs, which would have allowed them to authorize their relatives to vote on their behalf. The bill was passed in the Lower House of Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha), but it wasn’t passed in the Upper House of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and will lapse soon since the Lok Sabha is going to be dissolved in May 2019. Hopefully, it may be re-introduced later and passed in future. NRIs will need to lobby again, not just for proxy voting, but also for online voting.

There are a few scams floating around, with links outlining that NRIs can vote online. They use Election Commission of India (ECI) logo too, but they are all illegal and fake sites, and being used for phishing to steal people’s identities. ECI has recently lodged a police complaint to track down the culprits and punish them. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/online-voting-rights-to-nris-election-commission-asks-delhi-police-to-investigate-fake-news/article26341709.ece

DON’T GET SCAMMED!

Dr Yadu Singh

http://www.facebook.com/dryadusingh

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Overseas Indian Card, replacing PIO and OCI cards, is good, but not enough. We need genuine dual citizenship

Indian passportIndian Govt is working on a Bill, which will be introduced in Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) soon, after having already been passed by Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament), to replace PIO and OCI cards with a single card, named “Overseas Indian Card”. imagehttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinions/30048500.cms

NRI (Non-Resident Indian), PIO (Person of Indian Origin) and OCI Overseas Citizen of Indian) words do create some confusion for many people.

The Link below might help you understand what these names mean. http://mha1.nic.in/pdfs/oci-chart.pdf

I think, replacing PIO and OCI cards with “Overseas Indian Card” it is a good idea, provided,

1. Govt does not impose any cost to those with these cards while replacing current OCI/PIO cards with “Overseas Indian Card”,
2. the process to replace PIO/OCI cards with Overseas Indian Cards is simple, automatic and not cumbersome,
3. the new card is valid for life Long,
4. Fees for Overseas Indian Card is reasonable, not expensive.

I do not see any issue with the requirement that the sticker for the OCI/PIO card or their replacement “Overseas Indian Card” should be pasted in the current passport. If we have to renew our Passports, we will need to have the “Overseas Indian Card” sticker transferred to the new Passport. It should however not cost more than a reasonable amount ie $50-100.00.

While at it, we should not miss the real issue in regards to Overseas Indians-NRIs, PIOs and OCIs. This is about India’s reluctance to offer Overseas Indians a true “Dual Citizenship”.

Overseas Indians, whether they hold Indian Passports or have Overseas Passports, love India. They have an emotional bond with India. This is true for a great majority of people with Indian heritage.

If India is really serious in looking after Overseas Indians, and wishes to tap into this network for variety of purposes, it should consider;

a. Giving Indian passports (Dual citizenship) to overseas Citizens of Indian heritage with full rights including political rights,
b. giving convenient voting rights to such dual passport holders as well as Indian passport holders (NRIs), which can be exercised either at the Consulate, High Commission or Embassy premises in their country of residence or through postal or Online facilities. Postal Voting rights, after all, are allowed for India’s diplomatic staff, serving outside India.

Nobody can argue against India’ right to reject applications for Indian Passports to Overseas citizens of Indian heritage if they have security issues or are associated with terrorist/separatist anti-India groups, if a thorough security investigation finds evidence of such background.

In regards to NRIs (Indians living overseas but holding Indian passports), I am aware that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is in favour of granting convenient voting rights to them via postal, online or voting at the Consulate/Embassies/High Commissions, and has already submitted a memorandum to Election Commission of India in January 2014. https://ofbjp.org/sites/default/files/Memorandum%20to%20CEC%20VS%20Sampath%20on%20NRIs%20Voting%20Issue%20English.pdf

Currently, NRIs must register their names in the voter lists at their place of residence in India, before they left India, and be physically present there to vote, which is practically very inconvenient, and financially prohibitive.

Indian constitution allows NRIs to vote in theory, but Govt has not done anything to make it convenient for >10 million (>1 crore) NRIs, despite its lofty claims!

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/12th Feb, 2014
http://www.facebook.com/dryadusingh
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“OCI card holders should not need a Visa for India”:Says Dr Sujit Pandit and I agree.

Prof Sujit Pandit has sent me an email, suggesting that Indians living overseas should demand a rule change in India. This is about the OCI cards. An OCI card holder should not need to have a separate Visa for India.

Here is his email. The word USA should be substituted with Australia, NZ, UK or relevant countries.

Let us send this demand to our High Commissions, Consulates, Minister Mr SM Krishna [MEA], Minister Mr Shashi Tharoor [MEA] and Minister Mr Vayalar Ravi [NRI affairs].

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/21st Sept 2009

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Dr Pandit’s email……

Sujit Pandit to me 

Our goal is to make travel to India less stressful and a matter of joy. The current OCI (Overseas Citizen of India)/PIO (Person of Indian Origin)  rules are irrational and confusing that often cause hardship to the travelers.

The bureaucrats and politicians do not like to change any rules unless there is overwhelming pressure from the public.  So, if you would like to change the ambiguous OCI/PIO rules please write to the Indian ambassador to the USA, the Consular General of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Minister of External affairs, The Home Minister and other civil servants and politicians in India.   You may also write to the various Indian media and the Indian action, social and political groups.  Please ask your friends to do the same.
If you want to write only a short paragraph then write the following or something like this:

‘When an individual has a US Passport and an OCI card, production of a Visa should not be insisted upon, because the evidence of a valid visa is implicit in the OCI card, which may be deemed to be a certification higher than the Visa itself.’
If you want to send a more elaborate explanation then send them my story:
 From:
Sujit Pandit M.D.
2680 Lowell Road
Ann Arbor MI 48103