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29 March 2024

Kerala mulls online voting for Gulf expats

Minister rules out idea of having ballot boxes at Indian embassies abroad. (Shutterstock)

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By Staff

The Kerala cabinet will take a decision on whether to adopt online voting for its diaspora next week.

In an interview published in ‘Malayalam Manorama’ online, K C Joseph, minister for Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs Department (NORKA) confirmed this decision.

“The decision to include the Indian diaspora in voter lists was taken by the UPA government and the Supreme Court is looking into the matter.

“The Kerala cabinet will decide next week on the issue. We might consider filing a petition regarding this in the apex court.”

According to the stats published in the news website, there are over 2.5 million Keralites residing outside the country, of which nearly 90 per cent live in the Middle-East.

“In Kerala, there are numerous instances where bogus voting takes place... The system of proxy voting may not reflect the real intention of a diaspora voter, so we feel that online voting could be the most practical solution for this,” he said in support of the online voting system.

He ruled out that the idea to put ballot boxes at the Indian Embassies abroad.