India has its LokSabha polls in this March and April. Voters and political parties are all fired up for this. In between the political debates and banters, another debate is also making rounds. Yes, the debate about the benefits of e-voting in India. Some say no, while other people are rooting for it. In India, the voting medium is the EVM machine or the postal ballots. Usually, people vote by the EVMmachine. For this one needs to visit the polling station and vote. It is often a time-consuming process. The postal ballots are often used for the government employees posted in outstation or in polling duty.
In recent years the digital India vibe is gearing up. Most youngsters and tech-savvy people have opted for a rather digital way. The government is also quite enthusiastic about it. The ambitious aim is still an idea onthe paper. Paying through wallets, the mobile banking system, etc. is customary now. You must definitely be wondering how e-voting helps in India.
Each system has its pros and cons.Besides the benefits of e-voting in India, there are major issues regarding it. Let us examine them first and then take a decision.
Brief Overview of e-voting:
What is e-voting actually? E-voting or internet voting is a remote way of voting. With this system, any citizen of a particular nation can vote via a website or portal or app from any corner of the world. One just needs a unique e-voter id to do this.
Benefits of e-voting:
Please go through the under-mentioned points to know the benefits of e-voting.
- Many students or working professionals are now living in other places than their polling constituency. The places can be a little far away. And often taking a leave for voting is impossible. If e-voting starts in India these people will be able to vote.
- Disable people often do not go to the polling booth. These persons can vote easily via e-voting.
- Elderly people or senior citizens have become frail with age. For them standing in a long queue is quite tough. So, e-voting is also helpful for them.
- Pregnant women, critically sick voters can also opt for e-voting.
If online voting is started in India many votes will not become wasted and the election process will become more transparent. Basically, with e-voting, we can continue with our daily routine while casting a vote.Online voting also means fewer questions, fewer election phases. It can also curb hooliganism and rigging to a certain extent.
You are already a fan of online voting, right?
Adverse Effects of E-Voting:
Is India truly ready for e-vote? We cannot ignore the benefits,but let us take a look on the flip side of the coin.
- India still is not a place where smartphones are easily available. Yes. The smartphones/laptops /computers have become cheaper but not every family has access to any one of them.
- A major part of India is only basic literate. So, for them, e-voting is way more complex. Many migratory workers are labors. They may not be smart enough to handle this e-voting. So they may not be attracted to it.
- Countries which have opted for online voting have complained about server problems and bugs. These resulted in the crashing of sites, no count of votes etc. So, the process is not as easy as it looks. A lot of work needs to be done with it. E-voting also needs constant monitoring.
- Sites must be full-proof. The election is a crucial point of Indian democracy and if the e-voting sites are vulnerable to cyber attacks things can go wrong to a large extent.
- Voter security is also a great concern. The voters need anonymity. It is one of the best securities for them. If it is not secure enough voters may get into problematic
- There could be political web attacks, hacking etc also.
So, if we see the pros and cons of e-voting, it would be clear that it is needed for those who cannot afford to vote in their polling constituency. For them this type of voting is necessary and it needs to be implemented soon. But on a larger scale, India is not ready for e-voting. We need to go a long way to become truly able to become eligible for online voting. Hence, in some situations, it is a good option.Maybe in the nearfuture, we can become a nation which votes and elects via the internet. Right now let us hope that online voting gets implemented for a certain sector of voters.