Elections 2013 – e Governance & Technology making things better!!

Elections 2013 – e Governance & Technology making things better!!

I finally voted today – after a gap of almost 24 years!! The first time, I had voted was in 1989, just after turning 18. I was in first year of IIT then and was too excited to be eligible to vote. I still remember that winter afternoon when I had gone from one polling station to another in search of my name in the electoral roll. After 5 hours and visits to 12 polling stations, I finally found the polling station with my name in the electoral roll but was disappointed to learn that my vote had already been cast!! Mad and Furious, I created a scene on how can my democratic rights be denied, till some sane person on duty, pacified me and told me if I wanted to vote, I could vote. I went, cast my vote and realized later that I probably voted in someone else’s name!

This disappointed me a great deal and I thought elections are a farce. Never bothered to vote again in 1991 or 1996. After joining Government, I have been part of the process leading to reform in elections. The way things have been simplified for enrolling voters, sharing details of polling stations and affidavits of candidates have made the process more transparent and fair. I have been keen to vote ever since but having lived in almost 12 different places and with 18 transfers in the last 18 years, have not really been able to keep pace with the process of filling Form 6 to get my name included and deleted from the previous electoral roll. Not to mention that in most elections, I have either been part of the machinery conducting it or observing it on behalf of election commission. As a result, I had failed in my civic duty of casting votes, till Delhi 2013.

It was in October that I saw an ad of CEO Delhi regarding online enrolment of voters. I filled in the form online, uploaded my picture and got the confirmation SMS and email of inclusion in the draft electoral roll. 2 weeks later, an official came home to check my ID proof, approved it and my name was included in the electoral roll without having to visit any office. Complete end to end e Government service. I felt happy.

Week before Election Day, I started getting reminder SMS regarding polling day and how to find my polling station location on SMS. I used the service and got the location details, down to the Part and Serial Number, which saved me the headache of queuing up for Photo ID slips and I went straight to the booth with my ID and was able to cast my vote. Simple, efficient and quick.

I am sure this use of technology has been one of the reasons for higher voter turnout. All credit to Delhi Election officials to make this happen. E Governance initiatives are happening and making things better.

What can be the next steps to make elections more participative and transparent. With the way electoral roll data is digitized, it is possible to make the electronic voting machines, smarter, by getting them to connect to a secure central server, so that votes are actually registered on the server and the EVMs are just a communication device. This would allow people to vote anywhere as all that you need to have is your Eletoral ID number and as the polling officer keys it in the EVM and you vote, your vote will automatically be registered for the constituency you are enrolled in. This would allow people to vote in any city and even in transit – at rail stations and airports and EVM booths placed at public places and in offices will let people vote anywhere and get their votes registered.

Another possibility to further increase voter turnout is to have a 36 or 48 hour voting window so that people can chose to vote anytime. In order to ensure that the polling personnel are not overstretched, polling at actual booths can be held for 10-12 hours on the designated day, as is the practice now. However, after the close of poll on the designated day, people who missed voting on that day could actually walk into designated locations like post offices, and public offices where designated officers will be responsible for verifying the identity of the voters and allowing them to vote. Similar systems can be set up in embassies, high commissions and consulates to let the NRI voters also vote. Once the system is perfected, one can even think of online voting, but I would feel that given our social milieu, it might lead to men deciding the votes of women in the family and casting them online. So for at least some time, physical, and EC supervised voting might be better.

These measures will go a long way in boosting voting percentages as also making our democracy more participative and richer.