EC to soon begin mock trials for remote voting: CEC

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: Mock trials for remote voting facility for electors would begin soon, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has said.In his
message to mark the 11th National Voters' Day, he said a research project on remote voting using cutting-edge technology has already
proposal to extend postal ballot facility for overseas Indian voters was 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
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 personalised e-ballot paper will be generated."When the vote is
cast, the ballot will be securely encrypted and a blockchain hashtag generated
encrypted remote votes so cast will once again be validated at the pre-counting stage to ensure that they have neither been decrypted nor
tampered with or replaced."Suppose there is a Lok Sabha election and a Chennai voter is in Delhi
Instead of returning to vote in his or her constituency or missing out on voting, the voter can reach a pre-designated spot set up by the
EC, say in Connaught Place, in a particular time window and can cast his vote," Saxena had said.He said such voters may have to apply in