Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System
Also called: ETPBS · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 7 "Elections"
Meaning
The Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) was started by the Election Commission in 2016. It sends postal ballots electronically to service voters, such as soldiers or government staff posted far from home. The voter prints the ballot, marks it and sends it back by post. This saves time, because the blank ballot no longer travels both ways by post. It helps people serving the country vote from wherever they are posted.
Example
A soldier from Bihar is posted in Ladakh during a Lok Sabha election. They download the ballot through ETPBS, print and mark it, and post it back so that it is counted in their home constituency.
Don't confuse with
- Proxy voting: Here a classified service voter names another person to vote for them in person in their home constituency. ETPBS lets the service voter mark the ballot themselves.
Related concepts
- Absentee voter
- Home voting
- Postal ballot
- Service voter
- Proxy voting
- Prisoners' voting bar
- Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation
- National Voters' Day