There is no proposal to use the remote electronic voting machine (RVM) in the “upcoming election” in the country and it is also not proposed for the use of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Responding to a question in the Lower House of Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply that according to the Election Commission (EC), it has “not proposed to introduce the RVM for the upcoming election in the country”.
Several assembly polls are due this year, while the Lok Sabha elections will be held in 2024.
The minister said the EC has also informed that the RVM is not proposed for the use of NRI voters.
Rijiju noted that public sector unit Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), under the guidance of the EC and the Technical Expert Committee of the poll panel, has developed a prototype of the Multi Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine.
The EC, he said, had circulated a concept note to all national and state political parties on improving voter participation of domestic migrants using remote voting .
The note included matters such as defining a ‘migrant voter’, addressing the territorial concept, the method of remote voting and counting of votes, enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, and setting up of controlled environment to ensure free and fair voting.
With inputs from News18
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