Many Indians living abroad were excited to register as voters this year, with almost 1.2 lakh signing up. However, very few actually came back to India to vote in the Lok Sabha elections. According to the Election Commission, 1,19,374 people overseas registered to vote in 2024, which is an increase from 99,844 in 2019. Kerala had the most registrations at 89,839.
But when it came to voting, only 2,958 of these registered overseas voters traveled back to India to cast their votes. A large number of these voters—2,670—were from Kerala. Unfortunately, many big states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu had no overseas electors voting at all. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, only two out of 885 overseas voters came to vote. Maharashtra had a similarly low turnout, with only 17 of 5,097 NRIs casting their ballots.
Despite having about 19,500 more overseas registrants since 2019, the turnout was still very low. The Election Commission refers to overseas Indians as overseas electors, and these individuals can vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. To cast their votes, they must return to their respective areas in India and show their original passports.
For example, in Andhra Pradesh, there were 7,927 registered overseas voters, but only 195 actually came to vote. In Assam, none of the 19 registered voters came, and the same was true for Bihar, which had 89 registered overseas electors, as well as Goa, where none of the 84 registered voters cast their votes.
In August 2018, a bill was passed to allow overseas Indians to vote by proxy, but it didn’t make it to the next stage in the government. In 2020, the Election Commission suggested allowing postal voting for overseas Indians, similar to the system used for military voters. However, no decision has been made on this yet. Many overseas electors have said that travel costs, work, and school commitments make it hard for them to come back just to vote.
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