Context Former Chief Election Commissioners (CEC) have raised a range of concerns around the idea of online voting and remote voting, at a time the Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) is set to carry out an e-voting experiment and the Election Commission of India (EC), too, is exploring remote voting.
The Telangana SEC would be carrying out a smartphone app-based online voting experiment on October 20, the State Government had announced last week.
The EC, on the other hand, had said last year that it was looking at the option of remote voting for those electors unable to reach the polling stations they are registered at.
What are the concerns?
Secrecy of ballots will be difficult to maintain.
If Electronic Voting Machine which is based on simplest technology is still a matter of legal disputes, it is quite possible that an app-based voting will not be foolproof.
It was not clear how verification of voter identification, maintaining a free voting environment and secrecy of ballots would be maintained.
It will face political hurdles.
Campaigning for outstation voters would also crop up.
