What is the reason that our banking system, health care system, and education, everything is going online why is the voting system not going online? And it is not that it is not implemented only in India, the rest of the developed countries are also not able to do it, so what is the real reason behind this?
Modes to Vote
Around the world, there are three methods of voting: the first is paper ballot voting, which is done by stamping the paper; the second is computerized voting like India has EVM, and the third is I-voting, which is internet voting. Internet voting means that we can vote by connecting our mobile and computers to the internet. Most people get confused between E-voting and I-voting, while both are different.
Before moving on, we discuss why I-voting is needed, is it needed or not? In 2019, 60,000 crore rupees were spent in the Loksabha elections, so the total expenditure was 100 cr rupees per constituency and Rs 700 per vote was spent. And in India where elections are being held every 2-3 months, it becomes a huge amount, if an online voting system is implemented so a lot of money will be saved.
Real democracy is one where everyone comes to vote. If 67% of voting is done on today’s date, then a record is made, because the process of voting is very complicated. Whereas if online voting is done, so it will be easy for disabled people. If we talk about the Farm Bill, 600 people lost their lives last time, there was an economic loss of 70 thousand crores, these things could also have been done through the simple online voting of what the nation wants.
Pre-Requisites
There are two basic prerequisites for an election, and because of these needs, internet voting is not widely used and has grown extremely complex. These two requirements are very important for any election, the first is unanimity and the second is trust, in that particular voting system.
In today’s date, whether you talk about online banking, interactive platforms, or anything that is online somebody has that data. If there is online voting, then its server will be created somewhere, and somebody will handle it. Whoever has all the information of voters, will have great powers. Now you will say that the important thing is money we have made the banking system online, then what is the problem with the online voting system? Why are we thinking much about it?
You can find out how much money is in your bank by calling customer care, bank’s authority calls you for a loan and investment only after seeing how much money is in your bank, but in the case of voting, we cannot afford it. No one can know who have you voted for in the current system, the one who is counting the votes does not even know whose vote they are counting. Our government also has no way of knowing who voted for them and who did not. Imagine if the government comes to know the complete exact data, so they will take revenge selectively.
Lack of Transparency
But in the case of online voting things are quite complex, suppose you are working on a system in the office and your boss is standing in the Municipality Election and he is standing near your system saying that vote for me, then you will have to vote for him, so there is not much transparency in this case.
Researchers are using data science and machine learning in a very unique way so that this system can be implemented perfectly. Let’s assume that someone made a secure online voting system, in which it is not known who voted for whom and that the security system is left to the ground until that time the mobile or computer devices from which we are voting are not secure. Secondly, very few people in India have access to data and high-speed internet, those who are rich and educated will get the advantage in this.
Technical Competence
It is unethical to discriminate against those who exercise their right to vote. Democracy will only exist in the name if the foundation of democracy is gone. And not only in India, but if you look globally as well, the country whose technical expertise is good will also crack and hijack the voting system of other countries.
You can also say that we should not use mobile phones and systems at all, 60,000 crores are usually spent in an election normally, make a secure device, there will be no discrimination if it is distributed to everyone. Look, you will give the device but then who will see the security of the device, today despite the security in the current system when you go to vote so people blame that election is rigid, people will use that device in their homes without monitoring, so who will consider the credibility if the winning candidate without your choice?
As a matter of fact, Internet voting was started in Norway in 2011-2013 but it was closed due to security reasons. Australia, Canada, and France worked very hard for internet voting but could not sustain it. Now you will say Estonia is a country that conducts online voting, firstly the population of Estonia is 13 lakh so it is not right to compare it with the population of 125 crores, secondly, their population is educated.
It is very easy to make an online voting system that is secure, which counts all the votes with full security and tells the results but it is very difficult to form such a voting system that is better than our current voting system in terms of security. This is a more difficult thing than going to Mars, that’s why the countries have reached Mars, but are not able to make such a system.
Written By - Divyansh Chandravanshi
Edited By - Kritika Sharma
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