20 Aug
WHY IN NEWS?
Recently in the state of Telangana’s Khammam, online voting or e-voting was tested for the first time by the Telangana Election Commission. It was one of India’s first e-voting dry run which emerged a success with 60% of the people able to cast their vote in their first attempt except the rest of them having technical glitches at the time of registration.
EVOLUTION OF VOTING SYSTEM IN INDIA
After India attained independence in 1947, when the need arose to conduct the general elections to truly represent a democratic nation, an Election Commission was set up in 1949 as provided by the Article 324 by the Constitution of India and it was formally constituted in 1950. A legislation was passed by the Parliament in 1950 in consultation with the Election Commission of India to give a legal framework for the General Elections which is named as Representation of People’s Act, 1950 and RPA, 1951.
Representation of People’s Act, 1951 monitors the entire process of Election and the Act itself gives power to the Election Commission of India.
In the beginning times Ballot system was followed to cast the vote where the people will cast their vote by dropping a paper that marks their vote inside the box that reads the name of the desired party. Ballot system will work well for Panchayat and local elections. But, in a vast country like India, is it possible to conduct General Elections by counting the papers manually without any error? With increasing population, it is a task similar to boiling the ocean to still continue with the ballot system and hence Electronic Voting Machines were brought into the election scenes.
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE (EVM)
The process to implement EVMs was conceived in 1977. It is manufactured by the Electronics. Corporation of India in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited.
The Representation of People’s Act, 1951 was amended to facilitate the use of Electronic Voting Machines. EVMs were used for the first time in Paravur Constituency in Kerala for 50 polling stations in 1982 General Elections.
Advantages of using EVM
- Time saving to cast the vote and as a result the election results can be declared at the earliest.
- Bogus Voting and Booth capturing can be reduced.
- As EVMs are stand-alone machines, it cannot be connected to any other device via Bluetooth, Wifi or any other cable connections.
- Easier to transport.
- Invalid and doubtful votes can be eliminated.
- It’s simple calculating technology makes easy to be operated by the polling personnel and also for the voters who are even illiterate.
- Sturdy enough to withstand bad climatic conditions.
- Eco friendly and reduced cost of printing.
- Date and Time stamping facility.
Concerns posed by EVMs
There was an argument that the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 did not provide for the use of any electronic devices or machines in the conduct of elections. So why should we use it? Moreover, security issues were raised by the politicians and some political parties in 2015 citing that the EVMs can be tampered.
To address this issue, the Election Commission of India conducted a demonstration with all representatives of the parties present and explained the working of an EVM which consist of a chip. The ECI (Election Commission of India) also asked them to tamper the EVM without touching it which is not possible at any cost. The whole program that controls the function of an EVM is a chip on a “one-time programmable basis”. Changing the chip can tamper the EVM but it is not possible and the EVMs are sealed in front of the candidates. An attempt to burn any particular code on the chip will render the whole chip unusable. Once the chip is burned, it cannot be read, copied or altered. A dynamic coding is used by the EVMs to enhance the security of the data transmitted from ballot unit to a control unit. The doubts regarding the tampering of the EVMs will only raise mistrust in the election system.
VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trial)
VVPAT is a verifiable machine that allows the voter to understand if their vote was casted or not and also renders the information such as the date and time of the moment their vote was casted. The receipts from the VVPAT will be collected by the Election officer or the Returning officer which can be used to verify in case of any fraud. The votes will be counted randomly with the receipts to check if there is any disparity in the number of votes casted. Vast disparity if found will brought to the notice of Election Commission and necessary action will be taken.
Counter checking the slips or receipts will also increase and build the confidence of the people. Ballots and EVMs have indeed made the whole administration process simpler in Election. But what has been done to allow more people to participate in voting?
E-VOTING
Democratization can happen only when every citizen of the country participates in voting. E- Voting allows those people who are far away from the designated polling stations to cast their vote from the comfort of their places. There will be a double layer protection and security as the biometric information such as face recognition or finger print should match with the information encoded in the Aadhar. Only one vote can be casted using one aadhaar. This will indeed attract more voters to participate. India is in a testing phase to bring in this technology while countries like USA, Argentina have already implemented this procedure.
ADVANTAGES OF E- VOTING
- Exercise of Article 326:
It will enable any citizen of India across any geographical position to exercise their adult suffrage.
- Incorporation of all voters:
It will enable all type of voters such as General Voters and Service Voters to cast their vote.
- Convenience to Vote:
Even if the voter is in an emergency situation, he/she can cast the vote without needing to be physically present.
For instance, Armed Forces Personnel, Police Officers, Diplomats on a mission who are the service voters can avail this facility.
NRI Voters who are citizens of India temporarily residing outside India can also cast their vote through E-Voting. NRIs implication is completely a different sphere which requires a deeper discussion.
- Decrease in error:
The impersonification of Voter can be eliminated to its whole extent as biometric data is mandatory and fake vote cannot be casted.
CHALLENGED POSED BY E- VOTING
- Lack of trust and reliability:
In a digital world today, there is a cyber risk involved in almost everything so does is in the case of E- Voting.
- Use of Block chain technology:
Along with increased security comes the increased chance to be hacked.
- Privacy Concern:
The fragile data such as biometrics are used and stored in e- voting process which if hacked can turn disastrous and also turn in contrast with the right to privacy which is already a controversial topic.
- Lack of Digital Literacy
The citizens need to be made understood of the whole process before putting such an initiative into effect.
- Internet Accessibility and Digital Infrastructure
There are remote areas in India where e- voting is a giant leap but the digital infrastructure needs to be improved by enabling internet access and other facilities.
CONCLUSION
The right use of technology along with strict security and ethical values can bring in effective and efficient voting system in India and also make the essence of adult suffrage to be practiced at its best by providing a secure platform for every citizen above the age of 18 to cast their vote. The E Voting will bring in a better inclusion in voting sphere by allowing the ones living in remote rural areas, the disabled and the NRIs cast their vote.
PRACTICE QUESTION
Do you think that difficulties in physical access to polling stations is a main cause for less voter turnout in the elections? Discuss the role of technological intervention in solving this problem.(250 Words, 15 Marks)
