India law ministry says prototype remote voting machine implementation to go ahead as planned

On December 2023, The EC announced that it is working on a plan to introduce remote voting machine for migrant workers. If implemented, the move can lead to a "social transformation" for migrants, it had said.

The initiative will allow migrant voters to vote from remote location through the remote electronic voting machines or RVMs. They won't have to travel to their home districts to exercise their franchise.

To allow for remote voting, separate polling booths are set up, with each booth covering 72 constituencies, according to the Election Commission. Before the polling day, voters must register online or offline for a remote voting facility within a pre-notified time with the Returning Officer of their home constituency.

Once a voter is verified and declared eligible to vote remotely, a multi-constituency remote polling station will be set up in the area where they are currently located. These remote voting machines (RVMs) will have the same security system and voting experience as the traditional electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in polling booths.

However, the RVMs will will feature an electronic ballot display system with candidates and symbols, replacing the fixed ballot paper sheet. When the voter scans their constituency card in the presence of the Presiding Officer at the polling station, their respective constituency and candidate list will appear on the RVM display.

The electronic system will count and store the votes for each candidate in a constituency, allowing for efficient counting and tabulation of results.