JAIPUR: In the upcoming elections in Rajasthan, over 1 lakh service voters will be able to use the new provision for downloading the ballot online and then sending it by post for casting their vote.Although it was used in bypolls earlier this year, this is the first time that the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) is being used for assembly elections in Rajasthan. Many of the armed forces personnel claimed that this will be the first time that they will be exercising their right to vote as previously they either couldn't get leave at the time of elections or by the time they received the ballot by post it was too late to send it back. According to Election Commission there 1.1 lakh service voters in the state.“I have been in army for last 17 years and have never cast a vote though I am registered simply because I could never get leave whenever the elections were held. Also, the process of getting ballot paper through post and then sending it back was too tedious. However, I plan on definitely voting this time as long as my internet services work”, said an army officer posted in J&K.At present, members of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force and personnel of General Reserve Engineer Force (Border Road Organisation),Border Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Assam Rifles,National Security Guards, Central Reserve Police Force,Central Industrial Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal are eligible to be registered as service voters.Col(retd) Jagdev Singh added, “in the 30 years that I was in the army I never voted and it is difficult to get the ballot paper via post because they are invariably delayed. The percentage of service voters will definitely increase because of ease of availability of the ballot paper even in the remotest of locations.”According to the Election Commission Office, Rajasthan, in 2013 assembly elections there were 103168 service electors though they do have a separate data as to how many of those voted. In assembly by-polls earlier this year, in Mandalgarh there were just 22 service voters while in the Lok Sabha by elections in Alwar and Ajmer there were 9223 and 2335 respectively who used ETPBS.

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