Paper: GS – II, Subject: Polity, Topic: Elections and RPA, Issue: Ensuring voting rights for migrants.
Context:
The challenge of migrant disenfranchisement in Indian elections, especially in states like Bihar, which have high out-migration rates is a major concern.
- It discusses various mechanisms to enable voting rights for migrants, particularly those in the informal sector.
Key Highlights:
- Low Turnout in Migrant States: In Bihar, voter turnout in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was only 56%, well below the national average of 66%. One reason is that more than half the households in Bihar experience migration, preventing residents from voting.
- Women Migrants and Informal Sector: 2021 migration rate in India is 28.9% Around 10% of Indian women migrate for work, often excluded from electoral rolls at their current location.
Patterns and Types of Migration:
Proposed Voting Mechanisms:
- Special Voting Arrangements on Poll Day: Allowing migrants to travel back home with paid leave or special buses.
- Practical but logistically difficult to manage for large populations.
- Postal Ballots for Migrants: Modelled on the postal voting system used for armed forces, it requires prior registration and address verification
- Considered the most operationally feasible, but still needs robust logistical support.
- Remote Electronic Voting Machines (RVMs): ECI’s 2023 pilot project aimed to enable migrants to vote from remote locations using modified EVMs. But issues remain.
- Lack of voter verification mechanisms.
- Difficulty scaling the system for large states like Bihar
- Ambiguity in voter identification and polling procedures
- Changing Voting Constituency: It can be allowed for long-term migrants (residing ≥6 months), who are more likely to be invested in local governance.
- But may face political opposition from locals fearing dilution of their voter base.
Probable approach:
A combination of mechanisms is essential due to the heterogeneity of migrant populations. The ECI should consider:
- Voter awareness and enrolment drives, especially for women migrants.
- Enabling state governments to facilitate smoother migrant registration.
- Protecting vulnerable groups from disenfranchisement.
Implications for Democracy: Ensuring migrant voting rights is essential for:
- Inclusive democratic participation
- Reducing regional disparities in political engagement
- Strengthening citizen-state linkages in urbanizing India
Conclusion:
Migrants represent a significant and growing share of India’s population. The right to vote must be guaranteed universally, and this requires urgent electoral reforms. A mixed strategy that includes RVMs, postal ballots, and constituency changes can balance feasibility with inclusivity.
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/enabling-voting-rights-for-migrants/article69736254.ece
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