'Remote voting may see light of day before 2024 Lok Sabha elections': CEC Sunil Arora

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Saturday said that by the 2024 Lok Sabha election, India might have a remote voting system. 

CEC Arora stated, "Remote voting may see the light of the day by the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A team of technocrats and experts from IIT Chennai & some other IITs are working on it in full swing. We hope to see the first pilot project in the next 2-3 months."

He also said that for the Commission, transparency, and confidentiality of voting has always been a guiding consideration in ensuring free, fair, and credible elections, and the Commission will soon be giving shape to the final model of such voting after due deliberation on various options. He added that this will entail some process changes as well, and there will be wider consultations with political parties and other stakeholders.

Earlier, the Commission began to look for options to enable NRIs to vote from overseas after it received several requests for expanding its voting options.

Mock trials for remote voting facilities: CEC Arora

On January 25, in his message to mark the 11th National Voters' Day, CEC Arora had said that a research project on remote voting using cutting-edge technology has already begun. "There has been good progress in this regard and mock trials will begin soon,", adding the poll panel's proposal to extend the postal ballot facility for overseas Indian voters is under active consideration of the Law Ministry. The Election Commission has collaborated with IIT-Madras to work on a new technology which will allow electors to vote from faraway cities without going to designated polling station of their constituencies. Explaining the 'blockchain' technology involved in the project, former Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena had earlier said the concept is a "two-way electronic voting system in a controlled environment on white-listed IP devices on dedicated Internet lines enabled with biometric devices and a web camera". Saxena, however, had made it clear that voters will have to reach a designated venue during a pre-decided period of time to be able to use this facility. "It does not mean voting from home. After a voter's identity is established by the system, a blockchain-enabled personalized e-ballot paper will be generated."