COMMENTS

My first concern in such a setup is how do you ensure secret ballot? How do you ensure that there was no one standing behind my back and coercing me to cast my vote for a particular party? I really don't think online voting is a good idea specially when these can be easily misused by people. 

I find the current method with the EVMs extremely convenient and it hardly took me 5 minutes to cast my vote. What needs more technology from the ECI's side is in the preparation and maintainence of the electoral rolls. A citizen should be able to track his application throughout the periiod of its processing and till it's on the list. Also, deletion of names should be made simpler. This would go a long way in getting people to register to vote and keeping the rolls error free.

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PSA sir,

I am one of those who has been advocating IT based online voting system either through ATMs / Street Corner Kiosks specially erected with proper law and order protective personnel and gears, and your suggestion is very much welcome.

In addition, to make urban voters that much responsible, I have the following suggestions to make:

we can think of having kiosks with bio-metric voting facilities eg.,

(1) Iris tracked central voting system where, a voter gets into a kiosk, looks into the two eye-slots, gets instant recognition, a green light flashes, a touch screen method scroller with signs and names of candidates appears, presses the right button, system gets locked and you walk out; no hanky panky, no inking, no standing in ques, no pain in the neck for obtaining EPICs.

(2) Left hand thumb tracking system: - same facility, ATMs/ Bangalore ONEs/ Street corner Kiosks specially errected with security  - get inside a kiosk, press your left hand thumb in the slot provided, system beeps, green light if your LT thumb imprint matches with your data that is pre-stored in a central bank of citizens thumb impressions. 

We can think of enabling our credit cards also to swipe and vote during Election time only.

(3) Make Voting compulsory; 

(4) Alternatively, provide incentives to voters - say 5 per cent reduction in power/ water bills for a period of 3 months, if voting is proved.

(5) Bring in Election Reforms, "Recall of the Unfit", No criminals, Minimum and Maximum age prescription, amend Peoples Representation Act, Election Rules, if necessary, amend the constitution (we have amended more than 110 times and a few more will not hurt our leather bound constitution). 

-Vasanthkumar Mysoremath    

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Roshan RK,

 Thank you very much for your comments. Your concerns are genuine indeed. It is great that you have taken time to put down your views. However before passing a judgment in a hurry should we not research on these very important issues you have brought up? I am sure there will be number of such issues. While I thank you for bringing up excellent points for and against the web enabling issue is it possible to address ourselves to look for possible solutions and advantages?

1.      With voting online, secrecy and coercions are very important issues. Possible Solution could be to conduct elections exactly like now except that it will be online on the web.  Advantage would be you can vote from any booth any where in the country and abroad online.

2.      Electoral Rolls on line. Have advantages. Can be left to experts to work out the modalities. We are perhaps not the experts. The job has to be out sourced to experts.

3.      Important issue is to work out advantages vs disadvantages

More important is to find out whether any where else especially in the USA such studies were made.

PSA

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 VKM sir,

Wow you are already on the subject well ahead. Let me digest what you are saying. Now I remember that Aeronautical Development Establishment in Bangalore has a Left Hand thumb tracking system already in place at their security gate. Enabling credit cards for voting really a brilliant idea. 

Are you in touch with the election commissions on this issue? 

Thanks a lot

PSA

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does anybody remember we used to have something known as corporators and mayors and what not. wonder what happened to those? i guess between kumaraswamy and yediyurappa we have successfully managed to extinct these species of people's representatives.

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