- Allegations of irregularities in the counting of postal ballots and alleged OTP-based unlocking of EVM in Mumbai North-West constituency reported recently.
- Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) was developed by the Election Commission of India with the help of C-DAC.
- The ETPBS is a system created to enable remote voting for individuals who cannot vote in person at a polling station.
- The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 was amended in 2016 to allow service voters to use the ETPBS.
Voters eligible for ETBPS
- Service Voters: Members of the Armed Forces, Members of the Armed Police Force of a State, serving outside that state. Persons employed under the Government of India in a post outside India.
- Special Voters: The President of India, Vice President, Governors, Speaker, union cabinet ministers, Chief Ministers, and Ministers of State Government of India, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, The Speaker and Ministers of State Legislative Assemblies and Councils. CEC and other Election Commissioners along with CAG.
- Persons with Disabilities (PwD).
- Voters who are 80 years of age or above.
- Essential Services Personnel as notified by the Election Commission of India, including those in government services who are on election duty.
- It is a fully secured system, which enables the entitled service voter to cast their vote using an electronically received postal ballot from anywhere outside their constituency.
- Postal Ballot for entitled voters will be uniform across all categories. It will be delivered in electronic data format to the entitled voter on a real-time basis.
- The process of delivery will incorporate a mechanism to authenticate the voter using electronic means such as OTP.
- The Postal Ballot delivery through Electronic Media document also indicates the sections that need to be sent back to the Returning Officer (RO).
- Counting of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System [ETPBS] happens in physical form.
- Every counting sheet is signed by all counting agents after due diligence.
Dig Deeper: Read about the election petition.
