Offering air-tickets to overseas electors or any other allurements to them to come to India for the purpose of voting will amount to electoral offence of bribery, said Election Commission of India in a communication to all political parties in the Union Territory and other poll-bound States.
Provisions under Act
As per the provisions of Representation of the People Act 1951 and Registration of Electors Rules 1960, any Indian citizen absenting from their place of residence in India owing to their nature of employment, education or otherwise outside India is entitled to be registered as a voter and vote in the respective constituency in the country.
Given the Union Territory's French connection, a sizeable number of voters live in France and a number of other French settlements abroad.
Moreover over 120 voters from Mahe are living in Gulf countries.
It is likely that as part of election campaign, party leaders and candidates may travel abroad to seek votes from overseas electors.
In this context, the Commission clarified that seeking votes of overseas electors by candidates by travelling abroad are not prohibited under the law.
Travel expenses
All expenditure incurred by those candidates, their agents or party leaders on their travel, boarding, lodging in those foreign countries would be considered to be the expenditure incurred or authorized by the candidates concerned in connection with their election expenditure.
Thus, all such expenditure will have to be included by the candidates concerned in their accounts of election expenses.
The Commission’s clarification said, “Any inducement to overseas electors by way of air tickets or any other allurements to them, in cash or kind, to come to India for the purpose of voting would amount to the electoral offence of ‘bribery’ and this will invite penal action against the candidate concerned.”
Penal action
The Election Commission has further clarified that any other person or organisation offering to bear the travel expenses of overseas electors to India in connection with the voting in the above elections, or any other such allurements to them to seek their votes, with the consent of the candidate or his election agent, would also attract the same penal action as any other offence under relevant provision of the law.
Sizeable number of voters in the UT still live in France and French settlements
