Dec 2021
6 Mon
7 Tue
8 Wed
9 Thu
10 Fri 03:00 PM – 06:30 PM IST
11 Sat
12 Sun
Jan 2022
24 Mon
25 Tue 03:00 PM – 07:10 PM IST
26 Wed
27 Thu
28 Fri
29 Sat
30 Sun
Accepting submissions till 26 Jan 2022, 11:00 PM
Context
In recent years, electoral processes, results and integrity of the results have been the focus of heated discussions. Alongside this, there have been continuous collaborative efforts to determine the security of the technology along with impact on rights, privacy and data governance. The various reports around the prototyping of blockchain based technology to be used for elections in India provide a perfect opportunity to examine the topic and acquire sufficient insights.
Many countries are exploring and experimenting a set of different approaches to enable more streamlined voting that is secure, efficient and auditable. As part of the conference, we will discuss some of the following topics:
- Challenges in transitioning traditional and established voting processes to more digital and auditable models.
- Examining the approaches and experiments underway (in other countries) to better understand technical, social and rights centric challenges.
- How to examine and evaluate the various technology choices being made specific to electoral processes.
Key takeaways for participants
- A framework with which to examine technology choices and policy decisions.
- Knowledge about the key challenges being addressed by various countries, researchers and governing bodies as they seek to make the transition to digital technologies.
Who should participate
A topic of this nature is designed to appeal to the widest cross section of the audience, including:
- Researchers and practitioners at the intersection of technology, rights and data.
- Cybersecurity and data security practitioners and experts.
- Policy designers who are engaged in developing the guidelines for the transition.
- Organization leaders who have elections on a smaller scale as part of the governance processes, and seek to examine new approaches.
- Journalists and columnists who write about current affairs and politics.
Who should speak at the conference
This list is indicative, and not exhaustive:
- Experts undertaking research and development on voting related technologies.
- Academic researchers examining the impact of technology interventions in electoral processes.
- Cybersecurity researchers and experts.
- Policymakers.
About the conference curators
- Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
- Dr. Syed Taha Ali, teacher at NUST; information security practitioner.
- Maansi Varma and Praavita of Article 21 Trust
Contact details: For information about speaking and participation, leave a comment on Comments Page. The organizing team will get back to you.
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Media partner
Context
In recent years, electoral processes, results and integrity of the results have been the focus of heated discussions. Alongside this, there have been continuous collaborative efforts to determine the security of the technology along with impact on rights, privacy and data governance. The various reports around the prototyping of blockchain based technology to be used for elections in India provide a perfect opportunity to examine the topic and acquire sufficient insights.
Many countries are exploring and experimenting a set of different approaches to enable more streamlined voting that is secure, efficient and auditable. As part of the conference, we will discuss some of the following topics:
- Challenges in transitioning traditional and established voting processes to more digital and auditable models.
- Examining the approaches and experiments underway (in other countries) to better understand technical, social and rights centric challenges.
- How to examine and evaluate the various technology choices being made specific to electoral processes.
Key takeaways for participants
- A framework with which to examine technology choices and policy decisions.
- Knowledge about the key challenges being addressed by various countries, researchers and governing bodies as they seek to make the transition to digital technologies.
Who should participate
A topic of this nature is designed to appeal to the widest cross section of the audience, including:
- Researchers and practitioners at the intersection of technology, rights and data.
- Cybersecurity and data security practitioners and experts.
- Policy designers who are engaged in developing the guidelines for the transition.
- Organization leaders who have elections on a smaller scale as part of the governance processes, and seek to examine new approaches.
- Journalists and columnists who write about current affairs and politics.
Who should speak at the conference
This list is indicative, and not exhaustive:
- Experts undertaking research and development on voting related technologies.
- Academic researchers examining the impact of technology interventions in electoral processes.
- Cybersecurity researchers and experts.
- Policymakers.
About the conference curators
- Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
- Dr. Syed Taha Ali, teacher at NUST; information security practitioner.
- Maansi Varma and Praavita of Article 21 Trust
Contact details: For information about speaking and participation, leave a comment on Comments Page. The organizing team will get back to you.
Featured submissions
See all-
SS
Shivam Shankar Singh
How Data Transforms Elections
We’ve all heard the phrase “data is the new oil”. There are few fields where this is as true as it is in politics. New age campaign methods use voting data extensively to build campaigns and shape the thoughts of voters. This in itself isn’t bad, but it becomes so when the data is so granular that it allows for micro-targeting of voters along caste and community lines, and when it can be used to … more02 Dec 2021
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SS
Subodh Sharma
Designing Electronic Voting Systems
Electronic voting is increasingly getting traction in many countries worldwide. Evidently, designing and implementing electronic voting systems is not a straightforward exercise. This talk will touch upon the key invariants that one must bear in mind while crafting reliable and secure electronic voting systems. I will also discuss some fundamental technological issues surrounding remote electroni… more03 Dec 2021
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SB
Subhashis Banerjee
Citizens' Commission on Elections (CCE) report and analysis of voting systems in India
The Citizens’ Commission on Elections (CCE) was set up in March 2020 to critically analyse India’s electoral processes in accordance with democracy principles. We present here an analysis of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system, based on the first volume of the Commission’s report [Lokur et al., 2021]. The main recommendations of the report a… more09 Dec 2021
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CHANTAL JANINE D'COSTA
State's adoption of intrusive technology and threats to democracy - A talk by Seema Chishti
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… more21 Dec 2021
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UR
Usha R
Databasing voters and concerns on privacy of voters.
Data and databases can be considered a ‘community resource’. The job of the election commission is not just to conduct periodic elections, but also to keep it free and fair. If the secret ballot is no longer secret, or if people even feel it is not secret and safe, it is no longer free or fair. Importantly, when these institutions of state allow themselves to be hijacked for purposes other than t… more21 Dec 2021
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Anand Venkatanarayanan
How to Fix an Indian Election
Imagine that you are a political operative and you are given the task to ensure that a particular candidate wins the election with the following constraints: more09 Jan 2022
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e
entee
Examining the relevance of political advertising transparency
Ad tech now mediates many aspects of democratic processes. Conceptual frameworks and governance models (for eg. rights to political partipation, campaign finance) that enable the imagination of a functional electoral system are remade in the image of digital marketing. more10 Jan 2022
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CHANTAL JANINE D'COSTA
Analysing Electoral Bonds - A talk by Jagdeep Chhokar
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]… more12 Jan 2022
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CHANTAL JANINE D'COSTA
The Introduction of Facial Recognition for Electoral Roll Verification in Hyderabad - A talk by S. Q. Masood
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. more14 Jan 2022
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RS
Ria Singh Sawhney Speaker
Resisting Aadhaar and Voter ID linking - what you can do
The Indian Parliament passed The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that allows for Voter ID-Aadhaar linkage, despite evidence of Aadhaar contributing to marginalization of already vulnerable communities. Concerns about privacy of voter’s data abound, with this new policy. more22 Jan 2022
Videos
See all
How a state examines technology
Dr. Taha Ali, Professor at NUST; information security practitioner
Designing electronic voting systems - some considerations
Subodh Sharma, Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-Delhi
Databasing Voters and Concerns on Privacy of Voters.
Usha Ramanathan, Scholar in Law
How to Fix an Indian Election
Anand Venkatanarayanan, Independent cybersecurity researcher
Analysing Electoral Bonds
Jagdeep Chhokar, Founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
Venue
Online
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