Date: 12/01/2023
Relevance: GS-2: Structure, Organization and Functioning of the executive and Legislature; Appointment, Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies; Election Commission of India; Electoral Reforms.
Key Phrases: Election Commission of India, Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) prototype, Neutrality, Independence, Article 324 of the Constitution of India, Separation of Power, Consolidation and Counting, Democracy, Electoral Rolls.
Context:
- Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has invited political parties for a demonstration of the Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) prototype on January 16 2023.
Key Highlights:
- The Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) prototype can be used for up to 72 constituencies simultaneously from a single, remote polling booth.
Advantages of RVMs:
- Voter participation is comparatively high in India.
- Yet, in 2019, one in three voters did not turn up.
- Given the regional variations in demographic trends and economic
opportunities, India has a high rate of migration, which doubled in
the census decade of 2001-2011.
- As per the 2017 Economic Survey, there are around 14 crore internal migrants in the country, and they have to cross many hurdles to be able to vote.
- Migrants often see their political and economic rights compromised
at their place of origin and residence.
- Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) will help to protect their rights.
Unaddressed Concerns of RVMs:
- Ensuing of Fair environment for Remote Voting
- How will it be ensured that all those who wish to apply for remote
voting are able to do so without let or hindrance, and that all
applications are processed fairly without inadvertent or selective
exclusions?
- It is not sufficient just to define a protocol as it needs to be ensured that all applications and the decisions on them are publicly verifiable, from both remote and home locations.
- This can only be done with verifiable zero-trust technology that is crucially linked to digitisation of the electoral rolls, which, by itself, requires a thorough examination.
- How will it be ensured that all those who wish to apply for remote
voting are able to do so without let or hindrance, and that all
applications are processed fairly without inadvertent or selective
exclusions?
- Issue of Invalidation for Voting
- How will it be ensured that a person allowed to vote remotely is
invalidated for local voting and also that nobody is incorrectly
invalidated?
- Since the two lists will be at different locations, the correctness will not be easy to demonstrate in a publicly verifiable way.
- How will it be ensured that a person allowed to vote remotely is
invalidated for local voting and also that nobody is incorrectly
invalidated?
- Consolidation and Counting place Issue
- How will the votes - both the electronic votes and the VVPAT slips -
be consolidated and counted? Will the counting and the VVPAT audit
happen at the remote location, or at the home constituency after
consolidation?
- If it is the latter, then how will it be ensured, verifiably, that the consolidation has happened correctly?
- If it is the former, then disclosing the remote voting results for a small number of remote voters at any one location will compromise vote secrecy.
- How will the votes - both the electronic votes and the VVPAT slips -
be consolidated and counted? Will the counting and the VVPAT audit
happen at the remote location, or at the home constituency after
consolidation?
- Issues related to Polling agent
- Who will be the polling agents at the remote locations? How will it be ensured that in a different political environment at the remote site, a remote voter will not be coerced?
- Lack of Public Trust
- While there is no technical basis for allegations of fraud in the current, single-constituency, non-networked EVMs, public trust in them has never been lower than it is today.
- Public trust is the only strength of any electoral process.
- With EVMs, the voter has no way to see whether the vote is recorded
as it is cast.
- The ECI’s ambitious plan comes against this backdrop of public skepticism about its own impartiality and, less justifiably, about the reliability of the EVMs.
- Defining the Migrant and Resident
- Defining a migrant who is eligible to vote remotely is going to be
controversial - for instance, when does a migrant at a place become a
resident?
- Even the ECI had expressed doubts about the practicality of remote voting rights for migrants in the past.
- Defining a migrant who is eligible to vote remotely is going to be
controversial - for instance, when does a migrant at a place become a
resident?
Election Commission of India
- About
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous and permanent constitutional body.
- It is responsible for organizing free and fair elections in the Union and States of India.
- The Constitution grants the ECI with the power of direction, superintendence, and control of elections to Parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice-president of India.
- Powers and Responsibilities
- Determining the Electoral Constituencies’ territorial areas throughout the country.
- Preparing and periodically revising electoral rolls and registering all eligible voters.
- Notifying the schedules and dates of elections and scrutinizing nomination papers.
- Granting recognition to the various political parties and allocating them election symbols.
- The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post-election disqualification of sitting members of the Parliament and State Legislatures.
- Composition
- A chief election commissioner (CEC) and Other election commissioners (EC) (the number is to be decided by the President from time to time Art 324).
- Tenure- Six years or up to the age of 65 years whichever is earlier.
- Appointment of Election Commissioners
- Article 324 (2) specifies that the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President of India.
- This is subject to Parliamentary law (if such law exists).
- In the absence of such a law, the President has been making appointments as per the recommendations of the Prime Minister.
- CEC and EC
- Though the Chief Election Commissioner is the chairman of the election commission, his powers are equal to the other election commissioners.
- All the matters in the commission are decided by the majority of its members.
- The Chief Election Commissioner and the two other election commissioners receive equal salaries, allowances and other benefits.
- They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
- Removal
- The CEC can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court Judge by Parliament.
- The President of India can remove the other officers on the Chief Commissioner's recommendation.
Way Forward:
- This is not to say that software cannot be used in electronic voting, but that an undetected change or error in the software should not cause an undetectable change or error in an election outcome.
- It is well known that a standalone EVM, whichever way its components are internally connected, cannot be software-independent, which is a necessary condition for verifiability.
- While usability demonstrations are essential for public acceptability, they do not ensure safety or security.
Conclusion:
- In an era of unprecedented human mobility, the idea of portable voting rights is worth considering, but it will have far-reaching ramifications that should be accounted for.
Source: TheHindu
Mains Question:
Q. “Higher turnout is worth striving for, but not without sufficient safeguards”. Critically analyze the statement in the context of the recent move of the ECI for remote voting. (250 Words)
