Opposition parties on Monday urged the Election Commission to address the issue of urban uninterestedness towards the poll process. "No opposition party wants to see the demonstration of a remote voting machine (RVM). First, the issue of the need to have such a machine should be settled," senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said he felt that there would be no RVM demonstration till there is a consensus on the issue of RVMs. No political party is prepared to see the demonstration, he said. "The idea of RVM is not acceptable," Singh said and added that the commission should address concerns about electronic voting machines raised by eminent citizens of the country.
The poll panel had invited representatives of eight national and 57 recognized state parties for an RVM demonstration here. The commission has maintained that RVMs, developed by the public sector undertaking Electronics Corporation of India, will be a stand-alone device not connected to the internet in any way.
Each RVM can handle up to 72 constituencies, allowing migrant voters to cast their votes from a remote polling booth. Parties were also asked to give in writing their views by the end of January on issues such as changes required in the law to allow the use of RVMs. On Sunday, leaders of most Opposition parties decided to oppose the EC's proposal on RVMs after a meeting facilitated by the Congress.
Remote Electronic Voting Machine
The EC, on December 29, said it developed a model of a remote electronic voting machine for domestic migrant voters to increase voter participation in the polling process.
The RVM aims to ensure that people working in places other than where they are registered as voters would no longer have to travel to their domicile voting constituencies.
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