Voting by Armed Forces – Rajya Sabha QA

Voting by Armed Forces – Details of voting options available to armed forces personnel posted in various locations: Rajya Sabha QA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 596
TO BE ANSWERED ON THURSDAY, 21ST JULY, 2022

Voting by Armed Forces

596. Shri G.V.L. Narasimha Rao:

Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:

(a) whether voting options are available to armed forces personnel posted in various locations, detail thereof;

(b) whether armed forces personnel are eligible to register as ordinarily resident voters in parliamentary constituency of places of posting;

(c) if so, process involved in registration and voting in parliamentary constituency at place of posting and if not, reasons therefor;

(d) whether Supreme Court judgments in this regard are being followed, if not, reasons therefor;

(e) number of eligible voters in armed forces in 2019 and number who voted in 2019 parliamentary elections; and

(f) steps taken for increased participation of armed forces personnel in elections?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) & (b): Yes Sir, a service voter has the option of voting through postal ballot or through a proxy, duly appointed by him. Persons having a service qualification can get enrolled as ‘service voters’ at their native places even though they actually may be residing at the place of posting which is different from their native place. Further, service voters have an option to get themselves enrolled as general elector at the place of their posting if that is a peace station.

(c): Service personnel (other than those who are employed under the Government of India in a post outside India) has a choice to get himself registered as general elector in the roll of concerned part/polling station of the assembly constituency in which the actual place of his posting and residence is located, subject to the condition that his/her place of posting is a peace station. Option of enrolment as general elector is not available to the service personnel posted at forward stations. Those service personnel cannot be registered as a general elector at his native place.

Service personnel who intends to get himself/herself registered as general elector at his/her place of posting, he/she has to make an application in Form- 6 before the Electoral Registration Officer of the Assembly Constituency in which he/she ordinarily resides due to his/her posting at peace station.

Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) after satisfying himself that the applicant fulfils all the eligibility criteria fixed for registration and otherwise he/she is not disqualified for registration, on the basis of available documents/testimonials and after conducting enquiry, if required, passes speaking order after expiry of 7 days’ notice period for registration in the electoral roll.

After getting enrolled in the electoral roll as a general elector, the elector concerned is entitled to vote at an Assembly constituency/Parliamentary Constituency.

(d): Supreme Court judgments are invariably followed.

(e): Statement reflecting state-wise number of registered service electors in the last part of final electoral roll with reference to 01.01.2019 is enclosed at (Annexure-A).

(f): Consultations and meetings have been held with stakeholders since 2015 to enhance participation of Service Voters, mainly the defense and paramilitary personnel. A detailed Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) strategy was developed in 2017 for the Service Voters and interventions rolled out. Various wings of Armed Forces and Paramilitary have been coordinated with to monitor their part of the action plan. CEOS have rolled out the plan in respective cantonment areas to reach the target audience.

As an important component of the strategy, to promote electoral registration and voting through postal ballot by members of the Indian armed forces, an informative and motivational film was produced through National Film Development Corporation. The film consists of vivid action-packed visuals which were shot at actual locations so that it resonates with the lives of armed personnel. There is an inspirational song with upbeat music towards the end of the film which has become very popular.

Along with the film, an informative brochure and dedicated posters for different armed forces such as Coast Guards, Army, Navy, Air Force, CRPF etc. were also produced and dispatched to their centers in large numbers for dispersal.

During the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, designated radio spots on participation and facilitation of service voters were created and popularized across all social media handles as well as the official website. Further, various audio visual creatives, posters were also produced and widely circulated. A brochure titled “How do I vote”-a guide for service voters was also made wherein all the details regarding service voters registration, Electronically Transferable Postal Ballot (ETPB), filing ballot paper etc. were mentioned. All the content is available on ECI YouTube Channel.

All social media handles of ECI such as twitter, facebook and Instagram have been actively uploading post on service voters from time to time. Further, The Hon’ble President of India officially launched the Hello Voters (Web Radio) on NVD 2021 to expand the scope of its digital outreach interventions. A dedicated episode to service voters has also been produced on web radio.

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ANNEXURE ‘A’

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
DATA OF NUMBER OF ELECTORS, 2019
(AT THE TIME OF FINAL PUBLICATION)
Sl. No.	Name of State/UT	General Electors				Overseas Indian Electors				Service Electors			Total No. of Electors
		MEN	WOMEN	THIRD GENDER	TOTAL	MEN	WOMEN	THIRD GENDER	TOTAL	MEN	WOMEN	TOTAL
1	ANDHRA PRADESH	18123437	18474714	3745	36601896	1953	557	1	2511	55578	1330	56908	36661315
2	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	392566	401596	0	794162	0	0	0	0	4911	53	4964	799126
3	ASSAM	11132782	10627319	503	21760604	0	0	0	0	54078	1141	55219	21815823
4	BIHAR	37307892	33293467	2406	70603765	12	1	0	13	134050	5765	139815	70743593
5	CHHATTISGARH	9477113	9438463	709	18916285	3	0	0	3	15365	592	15957	18932245
6	GOA	551572	575123	0	1126695	25	12	0	37	265	10	275	1127007
7	GUJARAT	23255937	24187769	1053	44744759	61	32	0	93	24544	589	25133	44769985
8	HARYANA	9306532	8048715		17355247	10	4		14	90096	2950	93046	17448307
9	HIMACHAL PRADESH	2584180	2512625	59	5096864	3	2	0	5	61350	781	62131	5159000
10	JAMMU & KASHMIR	4037993	3739951	339	7778283	3	0	0	3	71808	758	72566	7850852
11	JHARKHAND	11507697	10473475	307	21981479	9	1	0	10	35907	1238	37145	22018634
12	KARNATAKA	25455955	24846487	4711	50307153	21	1	7	29	38735	804	39539	50346721
13	KERALA	12234556	13107460	111	25342127	62847	3729	8	66584	47624	1760	49384	25458095
14	MADHYA PRADESH	26778268	24622329	1423	51402020	42	10	0	52	64660	1300	65960	51468032
15	MAHARSHTRA	45702373	41685769	2086	87330228	206	50	0	256	102617	1818	104435	87434919
16	MANIPUR	939926	990960	26	1930912	0	0	0	0	18771	605	19376	1950288
17	MEGHALAYA	936579	956135	0	1892714	0	2	0	2	3250	44	3294	1896010
18	MIZORAM	381991	402408	6	784405	0	0	0	0	4464	49	4513	788918
19	NAGALAND	606173	596134	0	1202307	0	0	0	0	7236	70	7306	1209613
20	ODISHA	16337310	15460545	2932	31800787	6	1	0	7	38874	1503	40377	31841171
21	PUNJAB	10754157	9319711	507	20374375	264	129	0	393	98551	1734	100285	20475053
22	RAJASTHAN	24993377	23066382	231	48059990	69	28	0	97	121684	2922	124606	48184693
23	SIKKIM	216133	207032	2	423167	0	0	0	0	1712	14	1726	426646
24	TAMIL NADU	29130069	29779526	5461	58915056	79	20	0	99	61982	1095	63077	58978232
25	TELANGANA	14842582	14674217	2089	29518888	936	187	4	1127	10475	348	10823	29530838
26	TRIPURA	1317150	1281127	13	2598290	0	0	0	0	8797	121	8918	2607208
27	UTTARAKHAND	3984327	3643969	230	7628526	0	0	0	0	87036	1564	88600	7717126
28	UTTAR PRADESH	77941577	66111941	8374	144061892	41	10	0	51	246849	8101	254950	144316893
29	WEST BENGAL	35783463	33975979	1426	69760868	24	12	0	36	99555	2693	102248	69863152
30	A & N ISLAND	154829	139595	11	294435	0	0	0	0	554	29	583	295018
31	CHANDIGARH	327980	291327	19	619326	9	6	0	15	392	59	451	619792
32	D & N HAVELI	127620	113230	0	240850	0	0	0	0	8	0	8	240858
33	DAMAN & DIU	59969	59682	1	119652	8	17	0	25	10	1	11	119688
34	NCT OF DELHI	7556146	6138335	810	13695291	31	11	0	42	7774	1249	9023	13704356
35	LAKSHADWEEP	27475	26791	0	54266	0	0	0	0	122	0	122	54388
36	PUDUCHERRY	452949	506293	93	959335	204	27	0	231	209	10	219	959785
Grand Total		464720635	431316581	39683	896076899	66866	4849	20	71735	1619893	43100	1662993	897811627

 

Source: Rajya Sabha