Remote Voting Facility

In Context

• Recently, the Election Commission of India has decided to set up a committee to explore the possibility of allowing migrant workers to vote remotely on a pilot basis.
  • This committee will also seek consultation from political parties.

Remote Voting/e-Voting

• It will allow electors to vote from faraway cities without going to the designated polling station of their constituencies.
• The voters will have to reach a designated venue during a pre-decided period of time to be able to use this facility.
• The IIT-Madras is developing a system for two-way remote voting in a controlled environment using blockchain technology.
• It would entail voter identification and authorisation on the Electoral Registration Officer Network (ERO Net) using biometric data and web cameras for authentication, followed by a blockchain-based e-ballot generation, which would convert into a vote once the hash code would be generated on its execution. 
• The encrypted remote votes cast would once again be validated at the pre-counting stage to ensure that they have neither been decrypted nor tampered with or replaced. 
• International perspective:
  • Countries such as the United States, Argentina, Russia, Estonia, Thailand and South Korea in the past have utilised the blockchain methods for conducting voting processes for their citizens, with a fair share of positives and negatives deriving consequentially.

Significance of Remote Voting

• Significant migrant population:
  • According to the 2011 census, there are 45 crore internal migrants who accounted for 37% of the population.
  • There are nearly 10 million migrant workers, which is for the unorganised sector, registered with the government’s e-SHRAM portal. 
  • A large migrant population is only present in a handful of states.
  • If the remote voting project is implemented, it will have far-reaching ramifications.
• More Flexible for voters: 
  • The individual can cast his/her vote from multiple locations and not solely from one registered polling station.
• Boost voting turnout: 
  • It will ensure more eligible voters cast their votes which will help in including more voters.
• Constitutional backing:
  • Article 326 provides – Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage.
    • Every citizen of India not less than eighteen years of age on such date as may be fixed in that behalf by law and is not otherwise disqualified and shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such election. 
  • Remote Voting can help us move closer towards this.
  • It will be promoting security towards the recording of votes as opposed to physical tampering.
• Efficiency in counting votes:
  • It will provide enhanced efficiency in counting votes.
• Minimising errors: 
  • It will help in minimising errors and easing the overall process for the voter by utilising basic features such as Facial recognition technology (FRTs) and biometric identification protocols.
  • Currently, postal ballots are meant only for service voters such as army personnel who cannot return to vote.

Challenges

• Mapping of migrant labourers:
  • Mapping of migrant labourers is a mammoth exercise, that the administration has to take up. 
  • One method could be that migrants are identified at the block level. They could do door-to-door surveys since many states do not have any database on migrants. 
  • Election Commission have all the electoral rolls and know which constituencies the voters belong to.
  • Another possible method would be people themselves applying for the option of remote voting.
• Requirement of Reforms:
  • There are a set of reforms that we have sent to the Law Ministry
    • Eg., Aadhaar-linking for de-duplication and a single electoral roll. 
• Cyber Risks: 
  • Remote Voting is based on blockchain, therefore it might be attacked by hackers which would distort the final result.
• Issues of Privacy: 
  • It saves users’ biometrics and other data which can be misused by hackers and other parties that would undermine the right to privacy.
  • Stealing biometric information at the pre-voting phase, or infecting the blockchain during the counting phase, both stand as equally dangerous issues in a democratic setup.

Way Forward 

• It can be stated that blockchain technology in elections is a double-edged sword and one needs to ponder upon whether there are additional complications that arise out of the same.
• The existing laws will have to be amended to undertake that gigantic exercise which also requires political consensus.
• The issue of individual privacy and data protection in the course of collation, and authentication of personal data for blockchain elections require significant deliberation. 
  • There would be process changes and wider consultations with all the stakeholders including political parties before the facility is rolled out.
• In order to ensure an effective blockchain election system, two points stand pertinent: 
  • Cryptography involved blockchain election system should ensure a tamper-free record, display, and calculation of data involved in the election.
  • Policymakers should pay attention to the aspect of data protection and privacy in the course of authenticating a valid voter via biometric systems.

Source: TH