The Union Election Commission (EC) is mulling to introduce a system which would make voting possible from anywhere in the country.
The EC is planning to initiate steps to design a dynamic voting machine for this purpose. The EC aims to introduce the system during the Lok Sabha election in 2024.
The Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) being used at present have ballots based on constituencies. The EC is planning to introduce dynamic ballots using which a person can vote from anywhere in the country. Once the system is in place, votes in various constituencies can be casted in the same machine.
The EC had constituted a 7-member advisory committee to study about a system that will let people vote from faraway places. Rajat Moona, former director general of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) led the committee which included experts from Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi IITs.
The major challenge faced by the committee is to implement the new dynamic ballot in EVMs without using the internet. As there is no internet in the present voting system, hacking does not take place. Hence, the committee aims to reduce internet usage as much as possible and ensure that hacking does not take place. A new guideline for counting of votes will also need to be issued.
The EC is mulling about using EVMs with dynamic ballots in bypolls ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on a trial basis. If this proves successful, the EC is planning to buy 10,000 new EVMs.
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