Editorial: Time for remote EVMs

The development of a prototype Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RBM) by the Election Commission is a welcome development that needs to be encouraged by all political parties in the country.

Hyderabad: The problem of low voter turnout, particularly in the urban areas, has been a matter of concern for the election authorities. It has a direct bearing on electoral democracy. Facilitating the domestic migrants to cast their votes at the place where they have settled is one of the key solutions to the problem. It would help significantly improve the voting percentage. Remote electronic voting is an idea whose time has come. The development of a prototype Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RBM) by the Election Commission is a welcome development that needs to be encouraged by all political parties in the country. According to the 2011 Census, 37% of the people in India are migrants. It’s a hassle for them to return to their home State to exercise their franchise while postal ballots have met with a lukewarm response over the years. Out-migration due to the need to work, marriage, and education, is predominant among the rural population in overall domestic migration. Migration-based disenfranchisement is indeed not an option in the age of technological advancement. The voter turnout in the 2019 general elections was 67.4 % and the EC is concerned about the issue of over 30 crore electors not exercising their franchise. With as many as nine States, including Telangana, scheduled to go to the polls this year, followed by general elections in 2024, the facility of remote voting can boost the involvement of migrants in the electoral process and improve voter participation. The poll panel has invited all the recognised political parties — eight national and 57 State parties — on January 16 to demonstrate the functioning of the RVM which can handle up to 72 constituencies from a single remote polling booth.

The RVM initiative, if implemented, can lead to a social transformation for the migrants and connect with their roots. Often, they are reluctant to get themselves enrolled at their place of work for various reasons such as frequently changing residences, not enough social and emotional connect with the issues of area of migration, unwillingness to get their name deleted in the electoral roll of their home constituencies as they have permanent residence and property. The ability to cast votes is key to getting one’s voice heard in the political process. Apart from addressing the legal and technological challenges associated with the remote EVMs, the EC must allay the apprehensions of the opposition parties about the misuse of EVMs before extending their application. The task of identifying the migrants and enumerating them is onerous. Regarding the technological aspect, the machines have to pass the test of credibility and acceptability among all stakeholders. India’s EVMs have proved to be robust and reliable, despite the occasional political noise and conspiracy theories surrounding the machines. The political parties must desist from casting aspersions on the technology-driven, fool-proof process that has earned laurels for the country.

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