Benefits of eVoting Over Paper Ballots
Elections are an essential part of a democratic country. In the last century, India as a nation has relied heavily on Paper Ballots. But since the 2000s, India started using electronic machines (EVMs) in their elections. But now as the world is changing drastically, India is slowly moving towards Online Voting technology.
eVoting is a newly adopted concept that has been changing the face of politics around the world remarkably.
Paper Ballots in India:
Paper ballots have always been an important part of the Indian voting system. The age-old concept of voting through a piece of paper has been eradicated from the governmental elections in the early 2000s. But the concept is still in use in many small-scale elections. The ballot is just a piece of paper where the candidate’s name is printed and a voter can use one ballot at a time to cast his vote for an individual candidate. The pieces of paper are transferred into a box and the boxes are carried out to the particular place, where they are counted by people appointed by the organizations who organized the election.
eVoting Procedures:
eVoting, popularly known as Online Voting, is a technology-based voting procedure that has revolutionized election procedures throughout the world. The system is completely internet-based, where voters can cast their votes from the comfort of their own houses, with proper authentication and full privacy. The process is hassle-free and can reduce unnecessary expenditures, and time for the organizations as well as the voters.
Here are the 3 important benefits of eVoting over paper ballots
- Reduced Election Expenditure: Paper ballots have always been very expensive. The entire procedure of printing papers, transferring them to the booths, and appointing people to do odd jobs need a good amount of money. But with Online Voting, a lot of these expenditures can be reduced. As the eVoting procedure is completely technology-based, there is no need to appoint people to do certain jobs. Everything will happen through the internet, from the respective houses of the voters, so it’s quite certain that a lot of money can be saved.
- More Secured and Private Elections:The major problem with paper ballots in the early 2000s was the privacy invasion. As the entire process was man-handled, it was quite easy to manipulate the election results. Apart from that, the voters were also influenced to vote for a certain political party. The online process of voting can give assurance to a voter that his vote is not getting wasted. The entire procedure is fully digitized with proper encryption, biometrics, and AADHAAR verification. The voting is completely private and maintains full security.
- More Involvement of the Voters:Each year, a certain percentage of people miss out on casting their votes due to several reasons. Old-age and unavailability of vehicles to reach booths are two of the most concerning reasons among others. Apart from these two, there is also a problem faced by the people who live abroad or in other states. Casting their votes on a particular date can sometimes be quite impossible. The new technology of voting online can change the face of the elections. People can vote from the comfort of their own homes and without any outside influence. For the people who live outside of the state or even in other countries, this technology can come in front as a blessing to them.