Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said our goal was to ensure “one nation, one voter roll” to check for double names in voter rolls and ensure a clean voting process.
The government is considering proposals to link Aadhaar to voter rolls to check fraudulent voting and grant online voting to Indians working overseas, Union Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha on Friday. . Rijiju said voter fraud is a serious matter and the government is considering at the level of the Union Justice Minister how to control fraudulent votes.
Linking Aadhaar to the voters list is one of the ways. From now on, linking Aadhaar to voter lists is voluntary. Our aim is to ensure “one nation, one voter list” to check for double names in voter lists and fraudulent votes and ensure a clean voting process, he told Question Time.
Responding to a follow-up question on the proposal to grant suffrage to “Pravasi” Indians, the minister said that the government had suggested that the electoral commission consider how to grant suffrage to Indians who work in the abroad or whether they should be allowed to vote online. .
But before making any decision, we need to make sure the process is safe and transparent and non-malfunctioning, he said.
When Congressman Manish Tewari asked if the source code for the EVMs stayed with the company that makes the EVMs or if it was handed over to the EC, Rijiju said it was like appointing judges.
Judges are appointed by the government but once appointed they become independent. No one should question EVMs and there should be no inference either, he said.
As Tewari insisted that he had not gotten the proper answer to his question, President Om Birla stepped in and said that India’s democracy and its electoral process were highly appreciated by the whole world.
Birla said that during his trip to many countries, people showed great esteem for Indian democracy.
He said it is the biggest democracy in the world and yet it conducts elections so well.
People say they haven’t seen such a good system working in such a big country and everyone should appreciate the system, he said.
Rijiju said, “We want maximum voting and a healthy system. India’s electoral system has been called the best system in the world.
Responding to another question, he said there were no proposals under consideration by the government to enact a law to impose compulsory voting in the country.
Neither the government can force those in prison to vote as they are under the jurisdiction of the courts, he said.
We want maximum votes and a healthy system. People around the world appreciate our system, he said.
