Low Turnout of Overseas Indian Voters in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
New Delhi – In a surprising turn of events, a significant number of overseas Indians registered to vote but very few actually participated in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Despite almost 120,000 overseas voters registering to cast their ballots, only around 3,000 made the journey back to India to vote.
According to the Election Commission, a total of 119,374 overseas Indians registered as voters for the 2024 elections. Kerala led the way with 89,839 registrations, reflecting strong interest from its expatriates. By comparison, just 99,844 overseas voters had registered in 2019.
However, turnout was disappointing. Out of the 119,374 registered voters, only 2,958 returned to participate in the elections, with a whopping 2,670 coming from Kerala alone. Several other large states, like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, reported no overseas voter turnout at all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat, saw an abysmal turnout with only two out of 885 overseas voters casting their votes. Maharashtra also faced a similar situation, with just 17 out of 5,097 registered NRI electors making it to the polls.
Despite an increase of about 19,500 overseas registrations since the last general election, the participation rate was disheartening. The Election Commission defines overseas electors as Indians living abroad who are eligible to vote in various elections. To vote, these electors must travel back to their respective constituencies in India and present their original passports as identification.
In states like Andhra Pradesh, only 195 of the 7,927 registered NRI voters returned to vote. The situation was even more dire in Assam, Bihar, and Goa, where not a single registered voter cast a ballot.
In 2018, the Lok Sabha passed a bill aimed at allowing proxy voting for overseas Indians, but this bill did not progress to the Rajya Sabha. In 2020, the Election Commission proposed allowing eligible overseas voters to use the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System, which is currently available only to military personnel. However, no decision has been made by the government on this matter.
The Election Commission has received numerous appeals from the Indian diaspora to make voting more accessible. Many expats cited reasons like travel costs, job commitments abroad, and education as major obstacles to voting in person.
As it stands, the struggle to facilitate overseas voting continues, with many hoping for improvements in the process to ensure that more voices from the diaspora are heard in future elections.
