Just like the other day to day activities like banking and shopping, voting online can be considered as a sensible idea. Also it would be a bit challenging as compared to other online based activities.Legal needs and frameworks, public considerations,and investment are some of the challenges to be faced while online voting.

 

Security-

 

Voter Verification and Privacy-

 

In election procedure the voter’s identity is kept confidential till the end results of the elections.

So the voter’s identification should be maintained privately in online mode of elections too. The online banking requires identity verification  via usernames and passwords and tracing the users activity at the login time.

Similarly the verification while online voting procedure requires the verification that whether the voter is 18+ or not to match the eligibility criteria. But unlike the internet banking the user’s identity needs to be kept anonymous during the verification procedure. The voter’s identity must be unlinked from voter activity at the time of voting to avoid the linking of ballots containing the voter’s choices to their identities. This is a challenging task to be overcomed in the online voting. This challenge can be overcome by using cyber security tools like end to end encryptions and digital signatures.

 

Election Verifiability-

 

Proper verification is expected to be provided in the online voting procedure. There must be proper verified data that the vote has been successfully done and no change in has exhibited during the voting and tally procedure.

It’s really thought to imply the verification of the voting procedure along with maintaining privacy for the voter’s identity and choice.

To overcome this Zero Knowledge proofs are implied.The ZKPs give the proof of successful voting and that too by the verified eligible voter without casting his/her identity and choice.

 

Legal Frameworks-

 

There are certain laws and amendments mentioned in the constitution that are  required to be followed during the conduction of the voting procedure. The rules describe the method of ballot casting and its contents in the voting procedure.

According to the constitutional laws, in the first law there’s nothing about the conduction of online voting. Also no boundations are described for the same.

In the second law, prohibition of internet usage while voting is considered. This is broadly due to the public opinions that  there are plenty of risks in adopting online voting. Cyber security and usage of ZKPs are beneficial but not the entire section of population have accepted them with complete trust.

 

So more amendments are required to be made to make the way for the online voting procedure. There will be a certain length of time period which will be required for the formulation of new rules and acceptance of online banking by the entire sections of the society.

 

Trust and Transparency-

 

Even after the Proper rules , regulations and amendments in favor of online voting,if the public’s and politician’s trust in online mode will not develop then there will be no use of the rule’s formulations. Trust  is required to be built in public by providing proper transparency in online banking.

As mentioned above The ZKPs give the proof of successful voting and that too by the verified eligible voter without casting his/her identity and choice

Voting receipts can be considered as a trust building initiative which will provide transparency. After the voting the voter gets a receipt as a proof of voting anonymously i.e.without the identification and choice of the voter but his/hers  verification of eligibility to vote.

 

Investment-

 

Online voting doesn’t require any huge investment in initiating. The government already  has a high  electoral budget for paper based materials required in voting.

Whereas  though the online voting method has a comparatively higher initial investment to achieve the proper security and verification requirements. But it’s a long term beneficiary investment. It would be eco-friendly too. According to some surveys online voting  simply costs 2.32 euros, whereas a paper ballot on election day costs almost  double that at 4.37 euros. So adapting the online voting system is a one time investment with the long term benefits. They are much more cost effective than the papers . Online voting must ensure security and verification.

 

 

Online banking is really very cost effective. Though it has few drawbacks they can be overcomed by investing a bit more in cyber security and encryption. Every year more and more online banking Ng has been preferred all over the globe. As technology is advancing this will be soon adapted in India too. Still there are certain insecurities that a certain segment of the population have.  These insecurities will also be diminished with time.