Bihar Becomes First State to Use Mobile App for Voting

Bihar has gone ahead to be the first state in India that would enable voters to vote through a mobile application. The facility was launched in the midst of municipal by polls and elections of six Nagar Panchayats that allowed senior citizens, people with disabilities and pregnant women, to cast votes at home. It was held in districts, such as Patna, Buxar, Rohtas, and East Champaran, and mobile voting techniques could be utilized together with normal voting channels.

Context:

• India has now initiated its first mobile-based e voting- system in Bihar where citizens can vote through mobile in the municipal elections of the six councils in Patna, Rohtas, and East Champaran. 

• This is an initiative to help the elderly people, women carrying a child and the disabled who can not attend the electoral polling booths.

Key Points

• Introduction to Mobile Voting: The state of Bihar in India is the first Indian state to have introduced the concept of e-voting on mobile as an app for the municipal elections.

• Target Groups: The special target population in mobile voting service is senior citizens, handicapped persons, and expecting women, who are unable to come to the polling stations.

• App Development: The E-SECBHR app is the one that runs the e-voting system, and it was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The Procedure of the E-Voting System

• App Installation: Voters will be required to install the E-SECBHR App which is available to the Android users at the moment.

• Verification Process: The user connects a mobile number (which is registered in the voters list) to the app, and once verified, he or she will be able to cast the vote on the day of elections through the app or the website of official Bihar Election Commission.

Tampering- Prevention Security Measures

• Limitations of Logins: Two registered voters will be allowed to log in through one mobile number.

• Voter identification: Voters Ids would be confirmed by entering a vote I D number.

• Blockchain Technology: The block chain ensures that the votes have been captured safely and will not be easy to tamper with, this offers an unhackable system.

• Facial Recognition: The app contains facial recognition to identify voters before the voting.

Participation and Adoption

Voter Registration: There were approximately 10,000 voters to date who registered to vote using the app and further about 50,000 would vote using the web-app.

Conclusion

The introduction of mobile voting in Bihar is a major step towards the process of digitization of the elections and democratization of the process of voting. The initiative has allowed remote and efficient voting to be available and it is supported with the use of better security measures and technology; in addition, it has made remote and efficient voting open to vulnerable groups. Yet it is not clear whether this facility will be continued to the Assembly elections to come too.