The large non-resident Indian community in the US has welcomed the recent decision of the Union Cabinet to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians. “We welcome this move,” Thomas Abraham, chairman of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said. Still an Indian citizen, despite having obtained a green card for more than four decades now, Mr Abraham said the decision of the Indian government in this regard is a dream come true for people like him and many others. The Election Commission of India (EC) estimates that there are about 16 million Indian citizens living outside of which about 70 per cent are eligible to vote. While the significant portion of them are in the Middle east, in the US the estimate range from 800,000 to 1.5 million. An overwhelming majority of them are young, either university students or those on H-1B visas.
“This is a very good move. But I have to figure it out, what is the process,” said Sanjay Singh, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Pak Campus, which is in one of the suburbs of Washington DC. Having come to know about it through online and social media, Singh was of the view that this move would be put to best use only if NRIs are allowed online voting.
“This is not the case right now,” said E M Stephen, founder president of Kerala Center in New York.
“There is a very high chance of proxy voting being misused. It could be up for sake too,” said Stephen, who has retained his Indian citizenship despite being a green card holder for more than four decades now.
Full Article: NRIs In US Welcome Cabinet Decision To Extend Proxy Voting.