E-Voting to Boost Voter Turnout in Elections

Indifference towards voting is not a new problem in our country. It is true that in the last few years, the voting percentage has increased in the elections held at various levels in the country, yet we have not been successful in bringing every voter to the polling booths. There are many reasons like the hassle of voting in long queues, weather conditions and disability that lead to aversion from voting. This question has been raised for a long time that when all the work is being done online in the digital era, then why can't this process be adopted for voting? Successful e-voting through mobile app in the municipal by-elections of Bihar has taken a step in this direction.

For the first time in the country, voting through mobile app in elections got more votes than voting at the booth.

E-voting is not new in the era of technology. Various companies have been doing this to know the opinion of the public about their products. During the Corona infection period, we have even seen digital rallies of leaders. In such a situation, it is natural to raise the question that why are we not able to move forward in the direction of e-voting? The experiment of Bihar can be considered its beginning. In the last general elections, the elderly and physically handicapped people were given the facility of going to their homes and voting. We also have the provision of postal voting. E-voting can be called an extended and modern form of these facilities. Today, when the facility of internet and electricity has reached far and wide, e-voting can be implemented in a phased manner, if not completely.

This will not only save the time and labor of the voters, but will also make participation of more and more people possible in the elections, which are called the Mahayagya of democracy. Anyway, it is also necessary for a huge democracy like India that every voter gets a chance to vote. It has definitely been argued that the voters in India are not technically capable enough to understand the process of e-voting. Doubts are also expressed in the process from registration to identification and login on the mobile app that misuse and fraud are possible here too. But a solution can be found for every problem. Many questions were raised when voting started through EVMs. These questions are still being raised but no concrete evidence has been found so far to prove that EVMs are not reliable.

Broadly speaking, e-voting can be a better solution to save the expenses that increase year after year for country's elections and to stop the process of voting in phases. Online voting is not impossible at all. The need is to implement it in a planned manner using the right technology.