In the face of the Cabinet decision to introduce electronic voting for Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKs), the State Election Commission is likely to attempt e-balloting to accommodate them in the local body elections due in September.
Local Self-Government Department sources told The Hindu here that the commission, which is battling time constraints, was exploring all options and would soon open discussions with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for evolving a feasible option without compromising on the secrecy of the election process.
Considering the glitches in introducing electronic voting, the commission is likely to try e-balloting, which is deemed to be relatively safer than the other alternatives. As per the system, the commission will issue an e-ballot in the name of a voter. The voter can download the ballot, cast his vote, and return it by post so that it will reach the commission within the specified date.
Time constraints are preventing the commission from opting for developing a software conducive for introducing e-voting. For, the software should be foolproof and duly insulated from hackers. Being preoccupied with the ward delimitation process, the commission does not have sufficient time to try such methods.
Department sources say the commission does not have any model worth emulating and is wary of experimenting with nascent technologies. Even now when France goes to the polls, the French citizens in Mahe cast their votes in paper ballots and boxes are despatched to France.
With hardly 70 working days in the run-up to the elections, it has a large number of tasks to be completed. The commission is introducing multi-post electronic voting machines in the local body elections for the first time all over the State. The delimitation process has to be completed in August and that itself is quite tedious.
Also amendments have to be made to the Panchayati Raj and Municipalities Acts to provide room for about 25 lakh NoRKs to participate in the election process. The recent amendments mandate their physical presence in the booths and that provision should be changed. Completing all such processes within the available time is a tough proposition, the sources said.
