Conclusions The ever-increasing presence of ‘apps’ and growth in the number of participants in the mobile software application ecosystems have created a perception of “there is an app for that”. Smart mobile devices connected to high speed data networks have resulted in ease of transacting a subset of everyday activities. There are various classes of transactions where the convenience is compleme… more

As part of this project we have been hosting webinars and conversations to explore and discuss some of the key concepts related to better understanding of the elections. The complete set of talks including links to the videos are available at the Election Tech project. more

Checkpoint for technology introduction We begin this section with a caveat that the list making up the checkpoint should be treated as a starting point from which to evaluate the introduction of technology intended for public service. It is understood, acknowledged and foreseen that this section will undergo substantial changes after contributions from experts and interdisciplinary academics1. more

Critical Questions In recent times the proliferation of mobile application (app) ecosystems have influenced a stream of opinion pieces supporting the notion of ‘app based voting’. Often, terms such as ‘internet voting’, ‘mobile voting’ or ‘blockchain voting’ are also used. While they are not exactly used as synonyms, they do indicate the set of systems designed to enable remote voting over the in… more

Future Risks It is necessary to understand that systems by the very nature of their design will contain a set of risks. Deployment of such systems is based, in theory, on an evaluation of the risk i.e. the actual impact of the event along with the chances of that event occurring. It is becoming increasingly obvious that contests such as elections which are an integral part of the democratic proce… more

Analysis of the Design Requirements for Remote Internet-Based E-Voting Systems link more

Surveillance and the adoption of intrusive technology by the state must matter much more to common citizens than it does. In the matter of Pegasus, there is perhaps no other country where such a wide cast of characters and people central to keeping democracy alive are alleged to have been surveilled. There is now a court-nominated committee to look into the allegations. But there should be much m… more

List of reading materials (including links) relevant to the project more

The Electoral Bonds scheme was first announced by the then Finance Minister of India in his budget speech in Parliament on February 01, 2017. The heading of the section (consisting to two paragraphs) in the speech was Transparency in Electoral Funding. The same afternoon, the FM said in a Media Interaction that “These bonds will be bearer in character to keep the donor anonymous” [emphasis added]… more

The issue of deletion of names from the voters list is not new for. Before almost every election, it is found that the names of lakhs of voters are deleted by the Election Commission who then claim that this exercise was done as there were duplicate or multiple voters, and it is only these who have been removed. more

Electioneering essentially entails delivering the campaign messages to the maximum number of voters efficiently and economically. In a country with more than 130 crores population, it is a herculean task for political parties and political leaders to reach voters with their message. In the light of the magnitude, political players opt for new age media solutions to reach out to their constituents… more