In the fast-changing world of technology, the traditional methods of conducting union elections are being redefined. One significant advancement is the introduction of eVoting websites, providing a streamlined and efficient way to facilitate employee union elections. This blog will explore the various aspects of implementing an eVoting system for employee union elections, addressing its benefits, challenges, and essential considerations.

 

The Need for eVoting in Employee Union Elections

Overcoming Logistical Challenges

Traditional methods of conducting employee union elections often involve complex logistical arrangements, including physical polling stations and paper ballots. eVoting systems streamline this process by eliminating the need for physical presence, reducing the burden on organizers, and ensuring a smoother, more efficient election process.

Enhancing Accessibility for Remote or Off-site Workers

In today’s dynamic work environment, many employees work remotely or from off-site locations. eVoting addresses the challenge of accessibility by allowing these individuals to participate in union elections from the convenience of their own locations. This means everyone, no matter where they are, can vote if they want to.

Improving Voter Turnout and Engagement:

eVoting introduces a user-friendly and accessible platform that can significantly enhance voter turnout and engagement. By removing barriers associated with physical attendance and simplifying the voting process, employees are more likely to participate actively in the democratic process. This technology-driven approach promotes a sense of involvement and encourages a higher level of engagement among union members during elections.

 

What Features Should an eVoting Website Have?

In the era of technological advancement, transitioning to an eVoting platform for employee union elections offers numerous advantages. Here, we have a list of some key features that eVoting websites like Right2Vote possess: 

User-Friendly Interface

A good eVoting platform should be easy to use and understand, with a focus on simplicity. A user-friendly interface ensures that employees, regardless of their technical expertise, can easily navigate the system. Clear instructions, friendly layouts, and straightforward design contribute to a seamless voting experience.

Secure Authentication and Data Protection

Security is important in any online voting system. Strong security measures, like two-factor authentication and encryption, protect the election process. A safe backend system makes sure that private voter information stays secret, reducing the chance of unauthorized access or tampering.

Compatibility With Different Devices and Browsers

Flexibility is key in a modern eVoting system. Compatibility across various devices (computers, tablets, and smartphones) and different browsers ensures that employees can cast their votes conveniently, regardless of their preferred technology. This adaptability promotes higher participation rates and democratizes the voting process, making it accessible to everyone, irrespective of their technological preferences.

Digital Audit Trails for Tracking Votes:
Setting up digital audit trails is crucial in eVoting systems. These trails act like detailed records, carefully noting down every vote. It starts when a person enters the voting platform and continues until they submit their choice. This transparency not only makes people trust the voting process but also makes it simple to check and review.

Secret Ballot: In online voting audit trail and secret ballot co-exists. The Secret Ballot feature ensures that an individual voter’s vote preference is never known to anybody so that he is able to vote without any fear or pressure. At the same time, the Audit Trail feature ensures that a record is maintained for each voter – who voted, from which IP address and at what time. 

Instant and Automatic Result Counting for Stakeholders

Regular elections can take a long time to count votes, but eVoting is different. Instead of waiting, with eVoting, people get the result instantly as soon as the voting period ends. It also provides real time updates on how many voters have voted, and who all have voted. It’s faster and lets everyone involved know what’s happening right away. This isn’t just about speed – it’s about giving people the power to stay in the loop and understand how the election is going. Using a simple interface, everyone can see the results as soon as voting is over. This also eliminates doubts relating to frauds during vote counting as vote counting is automatic and instantaneous.

 

Right2Vote- Most trusted website for employee union elections

Right2Vote is a Government of India certified eVoting platform. It has been tested and certified by  Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification Directorate (STQC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Government of India and also has been approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India.

Right2Vote conducts more than 3000 elections every year across corporates, associations, unions, clubs, colleges, societies, cooperatives etc. 

When it comes to employee union elections and organizational polls, having a dependable and easy-to-use platform is crucial. Right2Vote emerges as a top choice for this, providing a flexible and customizable software solution that fits various organizational polling requirements.

Recognizing employees as vital stakeholders in any organization, Right2Vote acknowledges the significance of gathering their opinions. Companies, for various regulatory, administrative, and social reasons, must conduct polls to ensure employee engagement and participation. Right2Vote’s easy-to-use software is great for getting opinions from everyone at work, and it can also target specific groups when necessary.

Further, Right2Vote’s software is not limited to just employee union elections; it extends its capabilities to various facets of organizational polling:

 

 

Features that Set Right2Vote Apart

Right2Vote’s polling platform boasts several optional features that contribute to its reliability and adaptability:

Secret Ballot: Ensures confidentiality and encourages honest opinions.

Audit Trail: Offers a transparent record of the polling process for accountability.

Live Results: Keeps participants engaged by providing real-time updates during the polling process.

Weighted Votes: Allows organizations to assign different weights to votes based on specific criteria, ensuring a fair and reflective outcome.

 

The Impact: Quick, Accurate, Efficient, Transparent, and Engaging

Utilizing Right2Vote’s platform for organizational polls yields numerous benefits:


Using eVoting websites for employee union elections is a big step in making the voting process in companies more modern and democratic. If businesses take care of the things we’ve talked about, they can make elections easier to access, safer, and more transparent. This helps employees feel more empowered and makes labor unions stronger in the digital era. #everyvotesmatters.

 

To know more about Right2Vote’s election technology, please refer:

Religious organizations or associations: Introduction

Religious organizations or associations primarily work to bring individuals together whose beliefs towards religions, rituals, and values are common. Unlike other associations that are formed with different purposes, like social or recreational interests, religious organizations mainly focused on matters of faith.

These groups work as hubs where people having relative spiritual convictions come together to worship, engage in religious practices, and form a robust sense of affinity within their community. This shared religious principle creates a unique connection among members, differentiating these organizations from all the other types of associations.

 

How are they different from other associations?

Religious organizations distinguish themselves by their emphasis on spiritual beliefs, fostering a sense of shared faith and community. Unlike secular associations, they center around religious rituals and teachings. The unique bond among members goes beyond social or recreational connections, creating a deep, collective commitment to shared values and spiritual identity within the organization.

There are various forms of religious associations for example – temple management, mandir trust, associations of members of the same sect, for example Jain Samaj; members of same religious or sect who have come together for a specific purpose – for example running of schools.

Purpose

The primary purpose of religious organizations is to provide a communal space for individuals who share the same religious beliefs. They serve as places of worship, spiritual guidance, and community support, fostering a sense of belonging and shared identity among their members.

Structure

Religious organizations typically have a hierarchical structure, with leaders such as priests, pastors, or clerics guiding the community. The structure may also include committees or councils responsible for managing various aspects of the organization, such as finances, events, and community outreach.

Election frequency

Elections within religious organizations are not as frequent as in political settings. They are usually held to select leaders or representatives who will guide the community for a specified term. The frequency of these elections varies among different religious groups, with some conducting them annually, while others may do so every few years.

 

Challenges

Religious organizations face unique challenges in conducting elections. These challenges include:

Senior Citizens: Many members of religious organizations are senior citizens, and they may face challenges in participating due to physical limitations (inability to travel to a booth and stand in a queue to vote) or lack of familiarity with technology.

Semi-Literate Members:Some members may have limited literacy skills, making it difficult for them to navigate complex voting systems.

Not Very Tech-Friendly: A significant portion of the community may not be comfortable with modern technology, posing a barrier to online or electronic voting methods.

Dispersed Across the Country and World: Members may be scattered across different geographical locations, making it challenging to gather everyone for a centralized voting process.

Located in Remote Places : Some religious communities are situated in remote areas with limited access to modern infrastructure, hindering the implementation of advanced voting technologies.

 

Challenges With Current Offline Voting –

Traditional offline voting methods in religious organizations face several issues, including:

Low Voter Turnout: Offline voting often results in lower voter turnout, as some members may find it inconvenient to travel to designated voting locations.

Limited Budget: Organizing physical voting booths requires a budget, which may be limited for many religious organizations, affecting the quality and accessibility of the election process.

Influence of Leaders: Voting booths often coincide with places of worship, allowing leaders like priests to exert influence on the voting decisions of the members, potentially compromising the fairness of the election process.

 

Need Of eVoting

In the context of elections within religious organizations, there are several challenges and considerations that need attention. The election process in such settings often faces unique circumstances that impact voter participation, accessibility, and overall efficiency. Here, we have the key issues surrounding elections in religious organizations.

Low Voter Turnout:
Religious organizations frequently encounter low voter turnout during elections. This may be due to various reasons such as lack of awareness, disengagement, or apathy among the members. Addressing this concern is crucial to ensure a representative and inclusive election process.

Difficulty for People to Go to the Booth for Voting – Old People, Standing in Queue:
Accessibility poses a significant challenge as many members, especially the elderly, may find it difficult to physically go to the voting booth. Long queues can be particularly challenging for older individuals. Finding solutions to make the voting process more convenient and accommodating for all members is essential.

Spread Across the Country and Abroad:
Religious organizations often have members spread across wide geographical areas, including different countries. Coordinating elections for such a diverse and widespread community requires careful planning to facilitate participation from all corners. Ensuring that the election process is accessible to members abroad is vital for inclusivity.

Saves Cost, Time, and Effort:
Implementing an online election system can help save resources, both in terms of cost and time. Traditional methods of organizing elections, involving physical polling stations and manual vote counting, can be resource-intensive. Moving to a digital platform can streamline the process, making it more efficient and cost-effective.

Secured and Transparent:
Maintaining the security and transparency of the election process is paramount. Members should have confidence that their votes are counted accurately and that the overall process is fair. Implementing secure online voting systems can enhance transparency and reduce the potential for fraud, ensuring the integrity of the elections within religious organizations.

 

Key Features

The following key features contribute to a well-organized and inclusive election system.

Secret Ballot:

The election process should incorporate a secret ballot system, allowing voters to cast their votes in private. This ensures the confidentiality of individual choices, promoting a fair and unbiased outcome.

Audit Trail:

An audit trail is a record-keeping mechanism that logs all activities related to the election process. This feature enhances transparency by providing a detailed account of each step, from voter registration to result declaration, enabling stakeholders to verify the integrity of the entire process.

Voter Receipts:

After casting their vote, each voter should receive a confirmation receipt. This receipt serves as proof of participation and reinforces the transparency of the election. It allows voters to verify that their vote has been registered correctly and contributes to building trust in the electoral process.

OTP-Based Authentication: 

Implementing OTP (One-Time Password) based authentication adds an extra layer of security to the election system. It ensures that only authorized individuals can access the voting platform, minimizing the risk of fraudulent activities and unauthorized access.

Picture of Candidate on the Ballot:

To cater to illiterate or semi-literate voters, including a picture of each candidate on the ballot is crucial. This visual representation helps voters easily identify and select their preferred candidate, promoting inclusivity and ensuring that everyone can participate in the election process, regardless of their literacy level.

Instant Result Post-Poll Close:

After the poll closing time, the election system should generate instant results. This swift outcome provides timely information to all stakeholders, fostering transparency and preventing unnecessary delays. Instant results contribute to the overall efficiency of the election process and allow for quick communication of the outcome to the concerned parties.

 

Optional Features

Additional features that make our election system reliable and trustworthy.

Voter Selfie: To enhance the integrity of the election process, voters are encouraged to submit a selfie during the voting process. This helps ensure that the person casting the vote is indeed the authorized voter, adding an extra layer of identity verification.

Double Authentication: Our system employs a double authentication process to guarantee the legitimacy of voters. This involves verifying the identity of the voter through multiple channels, such as a combination of login credentials, unique codes, or other secure methods. This helps prevent unauthorized access and ensures that only eligible individuals participate in the election.

Unique IP Address: Each voter is assigned a unique IP address during the voting process. This measure prevents multiple votes from the same individual and guards against potential fraud. It reinforces the one-person-one-vote principle, maintaining the fairness and credibility of the election.

Result Multi-Lock: To safeguard the accuracy of election results, our system incorporates a multi-lock mechanism. This means that the results are secured through multiple layers of encryption and authentication, preventing any tampering or manipulation. This ensures that the declared outcomes truly reflect the will of the participating voters.

Geo Tagging: Geotagging is utilized to track the geographical location of voters during the election. It helps identify and prevent any attempts at remote or unauthorized voting, contributing to the overall reliability of the election process.

 

Right2Vote’s Credentials

Right2Vote comes with a robust set of credentials that make it a trusted choice for conducting elections in religious organizations:

Government of India approved:Right2Vote has received approval from the Government of India, attesting to its credibility and compliance with regulatory standards.

Track record of successful elections: The platform has a proven track record of conducting successful elections in religious organizations, demonstrating its reliability and effectiveness.

Unique and advanced security features: Right2Vote’s security features are designed to meet the unique challenges of religious organization elections, ensuring a secure and transparent voting process.

Easy to use: The Right2Vote mobile platform simplifies the voting process, making it user-friendly for religious professionals. The step-by-step process, including OTP verification, ensures a smooth and efficient voting experience. We have made a detailed youtube video on how you can easily vote on our platform. Click on the link to watch https://youtu.be/g2vDrwvg2Ow

 

Conclusion:

The implementation of an online voting system for religious organizations provides practical answers to the challenges of conducting elections amid diverse schedules and widespread membership. With official endorsement and recognized reliability, Right2Vote has emerged as a reliable choice that guarantees transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity in religious elections.

Embracing technological advancement is essential to uphold the democratic processes within religious organizations, fostering fair representation and active participation among members.

 

To know more about Right2Vote’s election technology, please refer:

Medical associations play a vital role in upholding the standards of healthcare, advocating for their members, and shaping the future of the medical field. However, conducting fair and efficient elections within these associations often presents unique challenges. Traditional methods, reliant on physical polling booths and paper ballots, can be cumbersome for busy doctors, geographically dispersed members, and the association itself.

This is where electronic voting (eVoting) emerges as a transformative solution. By leveraging technology, medical associations can unlock a new level of engagement, transparency, and efficiency in their electoral process. In this blog, we’ll look into the characteristics that set medical associations apart, the necessity of embracing eVoting, and the features that make the Right2Vote platform a game-changer in this domain.

 

Medical Association: Introduction

Medical associations stand as distinctive entities within the spectrum of professional organizations, setting themselves apart through their inherent differences, purpose, organizational structure, election frequency, and historical challenges. Let’s delve into each aspect to gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate world of medical associations.

Different from Other Associations

Medical associations differ from other associations due to the specialised nature of their members – doctors and healthcare professionals. The decisions made within these associations have a direct impact on healthcare practices, making the election process crucial for the betterment of the medical field.

Purpose

The primary purpose of medical associations is to provide a platform for healthcare professionals to collaborate, share knowledge, and collectively address industry challenges. Elections within these associations determine leadership roles and influence the direction of policies that shape the medical landscape.

Structure

The organizational structure of medical associations is often hierarchical and complex. Typically spanning local, regional, and national levels, these associations may have various committees, subcommittees, and speciality groups. This intricate structure involves the active participation of members, making fair and transparent elections crucial for maintaining the integrity of the association.

Election Frequency

Elections within medical associations are a frequent occurrence, reflecting the dynamic nature of the healthcare landscape. These elections involve the selection of leaders, committee members, and representatives who play pivotal roles in shaping policies, making decisions, and guiding the association toward its goals. The regularity of these elections ensures that the association remains adaptable to the evolving needs of the medical community.

Challenges

Medical associations are not immune to challenges. History has shown instances of litigation surrounding elections, issues related to the perks associated with leadership positions, and internal conflicts among members. These challenges highlight the need for a transparent and secure election process.

 

Need for eVoting

Busy Schedules:

Healthcare professionals lead demanding lives, making it challenging for them to participate in traditional voting processes. eVoting provides a convenient solution, allowing doctors to cast their votes without disrupting their busy schedules.

Geographical Dispersion:

Medical professionals are often spread across the country and even abroad. Traditional voting methods necessitate travel to physical booths, leading to logistical challenges. eVoting eliminates these barriers, making participation accessible to all.

Time Efficiency:

Queues and travel time to polling booths can significantly deter participation. eVoting reduces time wastage, enabling doctors to contribute to the democratic process efficiently.

Higher Voter Turnout:

Low voter turnout is a common concern in many organizations, including medical associations. eVoting, with its convenience and ease of use, can significantly boost participation. Studies have shown that eVoting can lead to a 3 to 5 times increase in voter turnout compared to traditional methods.

Security and transparency: 

eVoting platforms can be designed with robust security features, such as multi-factor authentication and encryption, to prevent fraud and ensure the integrity of the election process. Additionally, features like audit trails and voter verification can enhance transparency and build trust among members.

Cost Saving: 

eVoting is much cheaper than paper voting. With eVoting there is no need to rent and set up booths, print ballot papers, manage queues, logistics, security, counting etc. eVoting not only saves cost but also time and human effort. Cost saving can be as high as 90%, time saving 90% and human effort saving of 99%. 

 

Features of an Ideal eVoting System:

Secret Ballot:

Ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of votes is crucial. A secret ballot feature allows doctors to vote without fear of reprisal, particularly in situations where election management is controlled by one of the contestants.

Audit Trail:

Scepticism often surrounds election outcomes, with the losing party questioning the fairness of the process. An audit trail becomes indispensable in these situations, providing a transparent and traceable path of each vote, from the voter to the final result. This feature helps validate the integrity of the entire process, reassuring members that the elections have been conducted fairly.

Voter Receipts:

Offering voters a receipt, whether through SMS or email serves as a tangible confirmation of their participation. Similar to the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system, these receipts become crucial in verifying the accuracy of the electronic system. This not only instils confidence in the voting process but also acts as a failsafe in case the accuracy of the system is ever questioned.

Voter Selfie: 

Remote voting introduces the risk of someone else casting a vote on behalf of a member. The introduction of a “Voter Selfie” feature mandates that the voter must cast their vote in person, reducing the chances of impersonation. This simple yet effective measure adds an extra layer of security to the voting process.

OTP-Based Authentication: 

One-time password (OTP) based authentication is a fundamental step in ensuring that only verified voters participate. By linking the voting process to a unique OTP, the system verifies the voter’s identity before allowing them to cast their ballot. This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, maintaining the sanctity of the voting process.

Picture of Candidate on the Ballot:

Enhancing the voting experience, the inclusion of candidate pictures on the ballot makes it easier for voters to identify their preferred choices. This small addition adds a personal touch to the voting experience, helping members connect more directly with their choices.

Instant Result Post-Poll Close:

In the age of instant information, providing election results promptly after the poll closes enhances transparency. Members can witness the outcome in real time, minimizing speculation and fostering trust in the electoral process.

 

Other Features 

Double Authentication: While double authentication adds an extra layer of security, it should be used judiciously. In scenarios where security concerns are paramount, implementing Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) becomes crucial. Though it may slightly extend the voting process, the added security measures outweigh the minor inconvenience.

Unique IP Address: To prevent multiple votes from a single location or potential manipulation, the Unique IP Address feature ensures that only one vote can be cast from a specific IP address. This safeguards against coordinated efforts to influence the outcome and reinforces the individuality of each vote.

Result Multi-Lock: Implementing a result multi-lock feature adds an extra layer of protection to the integrity of the election results. This redundancy measure helps safeguard against accidental or intentional data tampering and also increases transparency. 

Geo Tagging: Geo-tagging provides valuable insights into voting patterns across different geographical locations. This feature aids poll managers in evaluating variations in participation contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the association’s diverse membership. 

Right2Vote’s Credentials: Right2Vote comes with a robust set of credentials that make it a trusted choice for conducting elections in medical associations:

Government of India approved: Right2Vote has received approval from the Government of India, attesting to its credibility and compliance with regulatory standards.

Track record of successful elections: The platform has a proven track record of conducting successful elections in medical associations, demonstrating its reliability and effectiveness.

Unique and advanced security features: Right2Vote’s security features are designed to meet the unique challenges of medical association elections, ensuring a secure and transparent voting process.

Easy to use: The Right2Vote mobile platform simplifies the voting process, making it user-friendly for healthcare professionals. The step-by-step process, including OTP verification, ensures a smooth and efficient voting experience. We have made a detailed youtube video on how you can easily vote on our platform. Click on the link to watch https://youtu.be/g2vDrwvg2Ow

 

Conclusion:

The integration of electronic voting systems in medical associations addresses the unique challenges posed by the busy schedules and geographic dispersion of healthcare professionals. Right2Vote, with its government approval, successful track record, and advanced security features, emerges as a reliable solution for conducting transparent, efficient, and accessible elections within medical associations. As technology continues to evolve, embracing eVoting becomes imperative for ensuring the continued success and democratic functioning of medical associations worldwide.

 

To know more about Right2Vote’s election technology, please refer:

With over one billion people, India is the world’s largest democracy and has a rich history of electoral processes. Over the years, India’s electoral process has evolved from the era of paper ballots to the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). However, as we move into the digital age, it is crucial to explore new possibilities of eVoting for streamlining and enhancing the electoral process. The concept of “One Nation, One Election” has gained prominence in recent years, aiming to synchronize all elections nationwide. In this blog, we will explore the evolution of Indian elections, the advantages of eVoting, and how it can play a pivotal role in making “One Nation, One Election” a reality. 

The Evolution of Indian Elections

Indian elections have come a long way from the era of paper ballots, which were time-consuming and prone to errors and malpractices. The adoption of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) brought about a significant leap in the accuracy and efficiency of the voting process. However, these machines have faced scrutiny regarding security concerns and limited accessibility for certain groups, including the elderly and differently-abled individuals.

The emergence of eVoting presents a new chapter in India’s electoral history. Leveraging secure digital platforms, eVoting has the potential to address some of the limitations faced by EVMs, offering convenience and accessibility to a broader demographic.

Advantages of eVoting

Accessibility and ConvenienceeVoting allows citizens to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes using a computer or smartphone. This convenience is especially beneficial for those needing help physically visiting a polling station due to mobility issues, distance, or other constraints. EVMs, on the other hand, still require physical presence at a designated polling location.

Inclusivity: eVoting systems can be designed to be more inclusive, catering to individuals with disabilities or those who face language barriers. Features like the candidate’s picture on the ballot page, screen readers, multiple language options, and accessibility tools can ensure that a wider range of citizens can participate in the electoral process, addressing a limitation of EVMs.

Reduced Infrastructure Costs: EVMs demand significant resources for production, maintenance, and storage. eVoting systems, once implemented, can potentially mitigate these infrastructure costs by eliminating the need for physical machines, transportation, and storage facilities for EVMs.

Reduced Wait Times: In areas with a high population density, long queues and wait times at polling stations are common during elections. eVoting eliminates the need for physical lines, reducing voter frustration and ensuring a more efficient process.

Improved Accuracy: eVoting systems can incorporate error-checking mechanisms, reducing the likelihood of casting invalid votes. They can guide voters through the process, ensuring that all required fields are completed correctly, which can help minimize errors and improve the overall accuracy of the vote.

Quicker Results: eVoting can expedite the election results. While EVMs have improved the counting speed compared to paper ballots, eVoting can provide near-instantaneous results, enabling faster decision-making and reducing uncertainty.

Security Features: eVoting platforms can incorporate advanced security features, including encryption, multi-factor authentication, and biometric authentication, making it more challenging for malicious actors to tamper with or compromise the voting process. While EVMs are secure, eVoting systems can continuously update and adapt security measures to counter evolving threats.

Voter turnout: Biggest advantage of online voting systems apart from cost, time and effort saving is the voter turnout. Online voting significantly increases voter turnout as it enables voters to vote anytime from anywhere within seconds. 

One Nation, One Election: The Role of eVoting

“One Nation, One Election” is a concept that proposes holding all elections in India, including those for the Lok Sabha (Parliament) and state legislative assemblies, simultaneously. It aims to streamline the electoral process by synchronising these elections at the national and state levels. Let’s delve into the possible advantages of eVoting in realising the vision of One Nation, One Election.

Limitations of EVM machines – availability and flexibility: The biggest limitation of the current EVM system when it comes to One Nation One Election is that EVM machines do not have digital screens but mechanical screens. EVM’s are designed to handle only one election at a time. However, a digital screen provides the flexibility of displaying different ballot pages of different elections to the voter based on need. Secondly, in online voting the government need not invest in voting machines which as voters are supposed to use their own mobile / computer for voting. This completely eliminates both the limitations of EVM machines – availability and flexibility. 

Manpower requirement for election management and security: In online voting, the voter can vote from anywhere including the comfort of their homes. They need not travel to a booth, stand in a queue and vote. This eliminates the need for a booth. When booths are eliminated it eliminates the need for an army of election management staff and security personnel. 

Streamlining the Process: Synchronising national and state elections is a massive logistical undertaking. eVoting simplifies this process by providing a uniform voting method nationwide. This eliminates the need for separate arrangements and procedures for different elections, making the transition to “One Nation, One Election” more feasible.

Cost-Efficiency: Running multiple elections at different levels places a significant financial burden on the government. eVoting can substantially reduce these costs by eliminating the need for booths and EVM machines. Combined cost of holding online elections for all three elections (National, State and local) would be less than one-fourth of the cost of one election with booth-based voting. This cost-saving approach allows for increased funding allocation to critical areas such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development.

Stability and Effective Governance: Frequent elections can disrupt the functioning of both state and central governments, leading to policy instability. If the Prime Minister is wasting time in campaigning for different state elections when he should be focusing on his job as the Prime Minister, it is not in the interest of the nation. Implementing One Nation, One Election through eVoting ensures a stable governance environment. Elected representatives can focus on development and policy implementation rather than diverting their attention to preparing for or participating in election campaigns.

Reduced Model Code of Conduct Duration: The reduction in the Model Code of Conduct’s duration essentially means that the government has more time and freedom to focus on its governance responsibilities without being bogged down by election-related constraints. Consequently, this can result in improved policy implementation and faster progress in development initiatives.

Enhanced Voter Engagement and Awareness: Conducting one election can boost voter engagement and awareness. With a single online electoral event through eVoting, voters can concentrate on making well-informed decisions for both state and national representatives. This leads to a more engaged electorate and potentially higher voter turnout.

Conclusion:

In the ever-evolving landscape of Indian democracy, eVoting is a promising solution that can help achieve the vision of “One Nation, One Election.” The Right2Vote online platform can significantly contribute to this by offering a secure, efficient, and accessible means for citizens to cast their votes. With its user-friendly interface, robust security measures, and the ability to engage a broader spectrum of the population, Right2Vote can streamline the electoral process, reduce costs, and encourage higher voter participation, ultimately fostering the harmonization of election schedules across the nation.

 

To know more about Right2Vote’s election technology, please refer:

It is a myth created by vested interests that eVoting is not secure. In comparative terms, offline voting is much more unsecure, and it is not even comparable to online voting when it comes to security and transparency. 

Online voting platforms can have different degree of security and transparency depending on technology and features used. At Right2Vote, we provide certain standard features including OTP based authentication, Audit Trail, Voter Receipt, Secret Ballot, Encryption which ensures 100% secured voting. Over and above, we provide optional and premium security features like Voter Selfie, Two Factor Authentication, Geo Tagging, Geo fencing, Aadhaar based authentication, biometric authentication for elections where security is a major concern. 

Key security risks in an election 

All elections face certain key security risks – whether offline or online. These include:

Below, we discuss how these issues are tackled in booth based physical voting systems and online voting systems and why online voting systems are more secure and transparent.  

Impersonation

As per Oxford dictionary, impersonation means an act of pretending to be somebody in order to trick people or to entertain them.

In an election, one of the biggest risks in that somebody else votes in place of the voter. This is very common in offline voting in Indian elections as all you need to do is carry a voter ID card or some other approved ID card. There is no biometric or other authentication at the booth. The booth officer just looks at the photograph in the ID card and tries to match the voter’s face against the ID card photo manually. The photo on the ID card might be 10-year-old and in black and white. Also, there is too much trust placed in the judgement of the booth official. 

In an online voting, the problem of impersonation is tackled by OTP (One Time Password) based and biometric authentications. 

Mobile OTP: This is one of the simplest and best methods of authenticating a voter. Mobile OTP is used across sectors for authentication purpose and used even for banking transactions where impersonation can lead to frauds of millions and billions. The only problem in mobile OTP as an authentication method is that the voter can on his own will share his OTP with somebody else and let somebody else vote on his behalf. Were such concerns are there, it is advisable to use other biometric authentication tools along with Mobile OTP. 

Email OTP: Email OTP is similar to mobile OTP. Email OTP is a better than Mobile OTP in certain scenarios:

  1. Voters have concern relating to privacy and do not want the election officer to share mobile number of members with the election platform.
  2. Voters are spread across the world. OTP delivery via SMS might be an issue in some geographies due to cost, local regulation etc.
  3. In India and many other countries, governments have strict SMS template related regulation to stop the menace of spamming. If voters are spread across the world, it might not be feasible for the voting agency to take SMS template approval in all the countries.
  4. SMS has character limits and sending long voting instructions and voter receipt is not feasible on an SMS. 

Email OTP can be used as the main authentication method or as the multi-factor authentication method. As OTPs have limited validity and can be used only once, it becomes increasingly difficult for voters to share multiple OTPs with somebody else to help him vote. 

Aadhaar based authentication: Unlike most countries India has built a very advanced digital database of its citizens with biometric data. Aadhaar database and systems can be leveraged for voter authentication. Aadhaar based authentication has become very common in India for access to various government and non-government services in India including banking, telecom, passport services and many others. Aadhaar provides multiple authentication options:

Face recognition: Right2Vote also provides face recognition feature without the Aadhaar linkup. Face recognition by software is 100 times more accurate than manual face and ID card matching. The only limitation of this method is that the organization conducting the elections should have a database of its member’s (voter’s) photographs. Unless the photographs database is there, system would have nothing to match the voter against.

Voter Selfie: Voter Selfie is a proprietary feature provided by Right2Vote where, the system takes and stores the pictures of all the voters before they vote. Unlike face recognition feature, where the voter’s picture is matched against the picture in the database, here the picture is not matched against anything, but just stored in the system. Still, this leads to significant increase in security and transparency. It substantially reduces the impersonation problem as both voter and the impersonator know that the picture would be taken and there would be digital evidence of wrongdoing on their part. 

Secrecy of Ballot

One of the biggest concerns in both offline voting and online voting is secrecy of ballot. Secret ballot is a very important feature of any election, and this helps in ensuring that a voter is able to vote freely and without any pressure. (For more about Secret Ballot read here ).

In an offline voting secrecy is secured by providing privacy at booth to the voter. In online voting system, the voter himself has to ensure that he votes only when he is in private space. In offline voting there should not be any hidden camera which can record the individual voter choice. Also, there should not be any numbering on the ballot paper which can help track back a ballot paper to a voter. In online system, the system design should be such that no link should be kept between the vote and the voter. There are platforms who do not have real secret ballot feature and claims to provide secret ballot feature by encrypting the data. But in such system, there is always a risk that the person having the encryption key can still know which voter voted for which candidate. This can defeat the purpose and objective of secret ballot. Such systems will never give the confidence to voter to vote freely. In Right2Vote platform, we ensure that no link is stored between a vote and the voter. Not even the Right2Vote’s top management can know who voted for whom. This ensures 100% secrecy of ballot. 

Hacking

It is a common myth that only online voting can be hacked, and hacking is not possible in offline voting. That is not true. Some of the common hacks relating to elections are as follows.

Booth capture: In physical voting a common hacking technique is to capture the booth physically. The goons capture the booth and then cast all the vote in their own favour. In online voting, people worry that a person can hack into the system and cast all the votes in their own favour. If online hacking was so easy, world would have not moved to internet banking on online stock trading. There are enough techniques available to guard against any kind of hacking. Right2Vote’s online voting systems is very secure and such hacks is not possible. Encryption and other security techniques are used to ensure the data is securely stored and cannot be hacked.  

Ballot box replacement: Another common hack in offline voting is replacement of ballot box after voting is done. Generally, there is substantial gap between end of election and result announcement. During the interim, the ballot boxes can be replaced with or without the support of election officers. In online voting, the votes are stored in a central cloud server which is encrypted and secured with both physical and digital security mechanism. Unlike physical voting where these ballot boxes are stored at remote locations, the digital servers are at central location with very high security. In online voting, result is generally announced immediately at the end of elections as counting is automatic and instant. It’s always better to announce the result as soon as election is over as this gives confidence to candidates. 

Counting errors and frauds: In booth-based paper voting, counting errors and frauds are common. Counting is done by humans, who are prone to errors and malpractice. In online voting, the counting is automatic and instant. There is no human intervention. Hence, in online voting there is no change of counting errors or frauds. 

Multiple voting: In paper voting or booth-based voting there used to be a problem that a voter was able to vote more than once. This problem has been more or less eliminated, in booth-based voting by ensuring that number of people voted and number of vote cast in the ballot box is tallied at the end of voting. Similarly, in online voting a proper audit trail is maintained of who all voted along with their IP address, time of voting and picture. Once a voter has voted, the system does not allow him to vote again. Also, the number of voters is tallied against number of votes received. This is done automatically and does not require any human intervention. This eliminates chances of multiple voting. 

Denial of voting right: In offline booth-based voting, it is a common problem in sensitive areas that voters are scared to go to the booth to vote. Goons of candidates threaten voters from going to the booth and block them physically. In online voting, the voter can vote from anywhere. It is not possible for goons to physically block them from going to the booth as the booth is in their mobile phones. Online services also face challenges of denial of service by various DOS or DDoS methods. However, there is enough solutions for the same. OTP based authentication and temporary blocking of IP address on multiple wrong entry is one such basic solution. 

Conclusion

Online voting is much more secure than offline voting as explained above. However, the biggest reason why democracies should move to online voting immediately is because offline voting denies right to vote to one-third of the population. Any voter who is unable to visit the specified booth due to any reason, is denied his right to vote. 33% of the population on an average is denies his right to vote due to booth-based voting. In 90%+ elections, the winning margin in less than 33%. Which means booth-based voting is the worst form of hacking and should be eliminated immediately.  

 

To know more about Right2Vote’s election technology, please refer:

Transparency and Security are the two side of the same coin called Elections. Any election should be secured to ensure there is no chances of any hacking or manipulation. At the same time election should be transparent to create trust among candidates and voters. Transparency can be increased by providing audit trail. Security and transparency are not mutually exclusive. There are ways which can increase security at the same time increase transparency. 

Before we get into the details, let take a step back and understand the term – Audit Trail. The word Audit and term Audit Trail has an accounting origin and hence the definition available in dictionaries (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/) are also relating to accounting. We will have to first understand the term and then understand it with reference to voting. 

Audit: to make an official examination of the accounts of a business and produce a report

Trail:path through a countrysidemountain, or forest area, often made or used for a particular purpose. Or something which gives visibility from start to end. 

Audit Trail:

In accounting:

Documents and records that show the history of a company’s financial activitiesexamined by someone who is doing an audit (checking a company’s accounts). 

In IT:

record of the activity on a computer or computer system

Basically, Audit Trail means record of transactions backed by supporting evidence. 

In online voting, Audit trail can be defined as record of the voting transactions recorded by the system backed by supporting evidence. The audit generally aims to checks the evidence of – when, where, by whom and what. 

Audit Trail in Right2Vote’s eVoting system

Right2Vote’s online voting platform provides detailed audit trail. The platform provides evidence of when, where, by whom and what using the following data:

  1. By whom – Voter selfie and record of authentication including OTP based authentication, biometric authentication.
  2. When – Time stamp
  3. From where – IP address and geo location
  4. What – Voter receipt, vote record, result 

There are few standard features for audit trail in regular voting and there are certain premium features available for polls which are very critical, high value or sensitive. 

Standard feature:

Audit Trail: Audit trail feature of Right2Vote provides the election officer with following details:

  1. Log in ID of the voter
  2. Name of the voter
  3. Time of voting of the voter (Time Stamp)
  4. IP address of the voter

This is a standard feature in Right2Vote, and this feature is available for all polls. There is no extra charge for this feature.

This feature gives evidence of who, when and where for each vote cast. 

Server Confirmation

In server confirmation feature, the individual voter vote choice data travels to the central server and the server display the data received by the server on the screen of the voter for his confirmation. The objective of this feature is to defeat any man in the middle attack and to ensure that the voter by mistake does not cast a wrong vote. This is also a standard feature in Right2Vote, and there is no extra charge applicable for the same.

Voter Receipt

When the election officer opts for voter receipt feature, a receipt is sent to all voter via email / SMS with the details of their individual vote choice. The voter receipt gives an assurance to the voter that the vote is correctly recorded in the system, and it eliminates the allegations like ‘hum button kuch bhi dabte hai, vote kamal to jata hai’.

Certain organizations are wary about candidates pressuring voters to show their voter receipt to them. That would be against the spirit of Secret Ballot. In such situation the election officer can opt for ‘Voter Receipt – Only Confirmation’. With this feature, the voter gets an email / SMS with only time stamp and IP address. Individual voter vote preference is not sent to maintain confidentiality. 

Together with server confirmation, voter receipt feature is similar to VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) used in Indian government elections. Server confirmation allows voter to confirm his vote choice on screen and voter receipt provides the voter with a digital receipt. 

Vote record

Right2Vote also provides Vote Record feature where a voter can any time log into the system and check the record of his own vote. This feature is not available for Secret Ballot poll as in such poll linkage of vote to voter is not stored in the system. 

Premium Features

Voter Selfie : With voter selfie feature, the voter’s image is captured before voting. The election officer is provided with picture of all the voters as evidence on real time basis and in PDF form for download at the end of the election. The PDF document is an audit trail evidence to prove who all voted.

Geo tagging : For each voter longitude and latitude data is captured at the time of voting using google maps. This data is more reliable than IP address as IP address can give incorrect location data in case of Virtual Private Network (VPN). Many organizations use the geo tagging feature to check whether voters are getting together in groups and voting. This feature is also used to know the geographical distribution of voting.  

Other security features like OTP based authentication, two factor authentication, Aadhaar based OTP authentication, Aadhaar based biometric authentication, Face Recognition etc are not only security features but they also add transparency to voting as they provide evidence of ‘who’ voted. 

Audit Trail in Secret Ballot poll

In case of SECRET BALLOT voting, the individual voter’s vote preference is secret and even the auditor does not have access to this information. The system keeps a record of who voted, when did he vote, from where but it does not keep record of what he voted. The system also keeps record of which candidate got how many votes; However, the system is supposed to not keep any record or evidence which can help somebody link the vote to an individual voter. 

This is done to ensure that a voter can vote with his free will, and he does not vote under any pressure or influence. To read more about Secret Ballot, read <*********How secret is the secret ballot voting?*****>.

In a Secret Ballot voting the auditor can satisfy himself of ‘who, when and where’ questions using the audit trail data above. For the ‘what’ question the evidence that individual voter confirmed during the server confirmation process and the voter did not raise objection when he received the voter receipt is enough evidence that individual voter’s vote data has been captured properly. The auditor need not know individual voter’s vote preference to confirm that vote data has been recorded properly. 

Process Audit

With advancement of IT systems auditing has also evolved from vouching to process audit. With process audit, auditor does not try to check every transaction and match it with evidence but tests flow of the system to ensure there is no bugs or errors. The auditor does dummy transactions in the system and checks that the processing of the data is as planned. 

In case of secret ballot poll, another good way for auditor to satisfy himself about the ‘what’ question is to do process audit. Auditor can test the system by creating a new poll in the system and vote on the poll. If the system is correctly authenticating the voter, capturing the vote, issuing voter receipt, calculating result then it is good evidence for audit confirmation. 

Right2Vote has got the eVoting platform tested and certified by Standardization, Testing and Quality, Certification (STQC) Directorate under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. STQC provides the certification after extensive process testing. STQC is the highest certification agency for eVoting platforms in India and is owned by Government of India. To know more about STQC certificate please click here

Conclusion

Online voting systems and specially Right2Vote’s online voting platform provides extensive audit trail to increase transparency of voting process. Depending on criticality, value and sensitiveness of the election, the client can choose the various transparency and security features. Right2Vote strongly recommends Audit Trail, Voter Receipt and Voter Selfie feature. 

Offline voting systems like booth-based voting with paper ballot cannot match online voting system when it comes to audit trail. In booth-based voting most of the voter authentication process and record keeping process is manual. Manual authentication and records keeping are generally prone to errors, frauds, manipulation and not very exhaustive. Booth based voting can improve audit trail by employing CCTV cameras with face recognition and biometric authentication of voters via Aadhaar. 

Features List…

Secret Ballot is one of the most important features of an election. Secret ballot is a constitutional protection provided to the voter to ensure he can vote with free will. However, many people misunderstand or fails to appreciate it’s true value and hence unconsciously compromise it. In a true secret ballot even the election commissioner, election officer, court or the management committee should not be able know individual voter’s vote choice under any circumstance. Many clients want secret ballot feature just to tick off legal requirement, at the same time they want an option to check who voted for whom. It’s like eating the cake and having it too. In a real secret ballot, there should not be any option to find out who voted for whom. 

Let’s understand the concept of secret ballot from offline paper voting which we all are used to. In a paper based voting system, the voter drops the ballot paper in the ballot box after marking his vote. All voters drop their vote in the same box. All the ballot paper is same without any number, name or identification of the voter. Hence, when the ballot box is opened for counting, it is impossible to find out who voted for whom. If suppose the ballot paper are numbered and ballot papers can be traced back to an individual voter, then it is not a secret ballot. In such case, the voter can never rest assured that his vote preference would not be known and hence will never be able to vote with free will. 

Let take a step back and start with dictionary meaning:

Secret: something that is not or must not be known by other people

Ballot: a secret written vote

Secret Ballot:ballot in which votes are cast in secret.

Frankly, it’s a very simple concept. Vote cast in secret. Which means, nobody except the voter should know his individual vote choice. The objective of secret ballot is that a voter should be able to vote as per his free will and should not come under any pressure, whether physical or mental, while voting. In other words, there should not be any scope of coercion. (Coercion: the use of force to persuade someone to do something that they are unwilling to do) The coercion can be of two kinds:

  1. Physical coercion: Physical coercion is when voter is pressurised to vote in a particular manner and is physically harmed or threatened to be harmed if they do not vote as per in a particular manner.
  2. Mental coercion: Coercion where voter is not under the risk of physical harm, however, is under pressure to vote in a specific manner. These include a senior’s pressure on junior, a husband’s pressure on wife, a friend’s pressure on another friend. In such case, the voter votes as per the wishes of the person exerting pressure because the voter does not want to spoil his relationship with that person. 

The source of pressure or coercion can we of following kinds:

  1. Coercion by candidates
  2. Coercion by candidates’ representatives and well wishers
  3. Coercion by voter’s friends and family

In all kind of coercion, the problem is that voter is not voting as per his free will which is very important for the proper functioning of a democracy. Hence, constitution of a country and bylaws of associations, clubs, housing societies and other organizations provide for SECRET BALLOT. 

To ensure secret ballot, in booth based voting all voters are provided a small, enclosed space where the voter can vote without anybody being able to peep into his vote choice. In online voting, a voter is expected to vote when he is in a private space so that nobody can peep into his vote. 

Fake secret ballot

Fake secret ballot is a ballot which gives a fake assurance to the voter of secrecy but at the same time exposes the voter to the risk of coercion by keeping the option to break the secrecy. 

In paper ballot: In paper ballot voting, if the ballot paper is numbered, the election officer can later match the ballot number with the counterfoil and know individual voter’s vote choice. This is not a secret ballot. In 2017 Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, election commission was able to cancel the vote after the vote was cast and dropped into the box. (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gujarat-rajya-sabha-election-after-midnight-drama-congress-ahmed-patel-wins-seat-setback-for-bjp-despite-amit-shah-smriti-irani-victory/story-hk9XSmw11bUP6OV5jUJ2MN.html). They were able to do it as ballot paper were numbered and the counterfoil has the name and identification of the voter.  This was possible as Rajya Sabha election does not require secret ballot or free will. In Rajya Sabha elections, the members are supposed to vote as per the whip of their party. 

In online voting: Few eVoting agencies claim to offer secret ballot feature where they keep the individual voter vote preference stored in the system in encrypted format. On court order or under certain circumstances, the encryption can be decrypted, and individual voter preference can be known. This is not a true secret ballot as the voter can never be sure that the data would not be decrypted. The voter would always feel the risk of election manager, court, management committee, election commission or the eVoting agency can decrypt and know his vote preference. If the voter does not trust the election officers and voting agency to keep the data secret, he would not take a chance and would not vote with free will.  

Right2Vote’s online voting platform provides a true secret ballot feature where under no circumstance and under no condition the voter’s individual vote preference can be know by anybody. Not even the election commissioner, election officer, management committee or the court can access the data of individual vote preference as the system does not store that data. In Right2Vote, we store the data that x voter has voted. We store the data that y candidate got one more vote. But we do not store the data that X voted for y. The system is similar to secret ballot in paper ballot based voting as explained in para 2. 

Conclusion: You can’t have the cake and eat it too. If secret ballot is required, it should remain a secret. Clients who ask for fake secret ballot or an option to see individual voter vote preference, in howsoever remote circumstances, are breaking the law. If the law requires in a particular election that secret ballot should be provided to voters, the client by employing fake secret ballot service is breaking the law and exposing himself and the management committee to risk of jail term. 

Features List…

Housing society elections in India is an important part of housing society life. The election in the society is supposed to follow certain rules and procedures. In this blog we intend to explain these rules and procedures.
Note: Most housing societies are formed as cooperative housing societies (CHS) and cooperatives is a state subject in India. Each state has its own Cooperative Societies Act and most of these Act also provides a model byelaw that can be adopted by the housing society in that state. A housing society can adopt its own modified byelaws, but the byelaws should not contradict the Act of that state. There are 28 states and 8 union territories in India and rules might differ from state to state. However, most of these state Acts have been based on THE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ACT, 1912 and are more of less similar. However, we request our readers to use this blog for general guidance. They should refer the following documents for legal purpose:

  1. Your society Byelaw – Every society has one. Ask your managing committee to provide a copy to you. It is your right, and nobody can deny you access to the society byelaws.
  2. Your state Cooperative Society Act – Link to few states’ Cooperative Society Act is provided below for your convenience:

    1. Maharashtra
    2. Karnataka
    3. Delhi
    4. Tamil Nadu
    5. West Bengal

Key points to note regarding housing society elections in the byelaw:

  1. Voting rights of owners: All members who own property in the housing society generally have voting right. No member should be denied voting right. Generally, the first owner is supposed to exercise the voting right, however co-owners can also be allowed to vote.
  2. Equal voting right: Generally, each member owning a property in the housing society has equal voting right. Generally, member having a bigger flat, say 3BHK, does not get higher voting weightage compared to a person owning a smaller flat, say 2BHK. However, generally, a person owning two flats in the society gets 2 votes. Votes are generally based on number of units and not number of members.
  3. In exceptional societies, formed as limited liability company instead of cooperative, at times they have differential voting rights bases on size of the unit. Right2Vote eVoting platform provides options to create all kind of elections including with weightage based on number of units and weightage based on size of the flat.

  4. Denial of voting rights: Byelaw might mention that members who have not paid their society dues in full, might be barred from voting.
  5. Voting right of tenant: Generally, tenants do not have voting right. The voting right for each flat is restricted to the owner of the flat.
  6. Voting window: A voter must be provided a reasonable voting window to enable him to vote. Keeping a very short voting window is restrictive and can lead to members complaining that they were denied their right to vote. We recommend minimum voting window of 8 hours if all your voters are located in India and minimum 24 hours if your members are residing abroad to provide for different time zones. Generally, we have seen many societies keeping a short voting window of less than 2 hours, which can lead to legal issues.
  7. Reasonable notice of election date and voting window: All voters should be provided advance notice about the elections. Generally, the practice is to provide minimum 14-day advance notice. However, it can differ from society to society based on the bye law.
  8. Intimation of election date and process: A society need to provide advance intimation to members about the intention to conduct election and invite nominations for various posts. This is generally done minimum 21 days in advance of the election date. The society also needs to circulate the rules and procedure for nomination and election process.
  9. Right to stand in elections: All owners / members have equal right to stand in elections. No owner can be denied right to stand in elections unless:
    1. The owner title of the property is in dispute.
    2. The owner has not paid all society dues in full.
  10. Election method – Online voting Vs Paper ballot: The Acts or the model bye laws generally have kept silent on the election method and hence paper based voting and online voting – both methods can be used for voting. Show of hands is generally not advisable specially when ‘Secret ballot’ is a requirement. Refer this blog for more details on this topic.
  11. Secret ballot: Most State Cooperative Act and model byelaws mention that election of members should be done via secret ballot. Secret ballot means, that nobody, not even the election officer should come to know which member voted for which candidate. This is to ensure secrecy of member’s vote so that member can vote with his free will and there is no chance of coercion.
  12. Proxy voting: Most Act and model bylaws mention that ‘member should vote in person’. This means proxy voting is not allowed. It should not be confused with requirement of physical presence of voter. It only means that voter cannot abdicate his right and responsibility of voting to somebody else. Proxy voting clause differ from society to society, please check your byelaws carefully for the same.
  13. Postal voting: Many Acts and bye-laws specifically provide for option of postal voting where members can send their vote via post. However, considering limited timelines of election, postal voting is generally not feasible and online voting is a preferred option for voters who are residing elsewhere or who are travelling.
  14. Election of Committee Members: Rules differ in model byelaws relating to election of committee members. In few states like West Bengal, the standard practice is that members vote to elect the committee members and the committee members among themselves decide who would take the title of President, Treasurer, Secretary etc. In Other states like Karnataka, members vote directly to appoint specific candidates to post of President, Treasurer, Secretary etc. Few members are also elected as committee member. Right2Vote’s eVoting platform provides feature of ‘Team Election – Exact’ and ‘Team Election – Upto’ to help societies elect team of committee members from the same list of candidates. You should check your byelaw to check whether voters are allowed to select exact number of candidates or they can select less than the number of post. Right2Vote platform provides both customizations. Most other platforms do not have this feature.

 
Election Schedule checklist and timeline
 
For the benefit of members, we have provided below a checklist and timeline for elections. Readers can customize based on their society bye-laws and convenience of the members:

Sl. No Event Notice period Documents to be sent with notice
1 Intimation of intention to hold election 21 days in advance of election date
  1. Election schedule
  2. Rules and procedure of election
  3. Current voter list with a request to update details within next 7-10 days
  4. Call for nominations with forms, rules and procedure
2 Call for nomination 21 days in advance Nomination form and list of documents required. Rules and procedure. Last date of submission of nomination
3 Voter list (initial) 21 days in advance List to be put up on notice board. Generally, it should include Flat number, Owner / voter name, Email ID, Mobile number and dues if any. Members to be requested to update their details within next 7-14 days. Also, inform members if there are any dues which can lead to denial of right to vote or right to stand in elections
4 Last date of filing nomination 7 days in advance of election
5 Last day of withdrawal of nomination 4 days in advance of elections
6 Final voter list 4 days in advance of elections The final list to be put up on notice board. Generally, it should include Flat number, Owner / voter name, Email ID and Mobile number.
7 Final nomination list 3 days in advance of election The final list of candidates standing for respective posts
8 Election window Day of election Recommended: Minimum 8 hours. Maximum 5 days
9 Voting link / location Day of election In case of Online voting – Link, user ID, voting process (it is better to send this 24 hrs in advance)
In case of offline voting – Set up booth, verify voters using ID card
10 Announcement of result Immediately after the end of voting window Election result with vote count of each candidate

 
Voting on resolutions during Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)
Voting of members are required even on resolutions during AGMs and EGMs. It is better to conduct online voting for voting on resolutions and provide members with minimum 24 hours to vote on these matters. Generally, secret ballot is not compulsory for voting on resolutions unless resolutions are very sensitive and members foresee risk of coercion.

Sl. No Event Notice period Documents to be sent with notice
1 Intimation of intention to hold voting on resolutions 2-7 days in advance Draft resolutions
2 Voting invite 24 hrs in advance Voting link, User ID, voting process
3 AGM / EGM / Meeting / Online Voting Day of voting Reminder with Link, user ID, voting process. In case of offline voting – Set up booth, verify voters using ID card
4 Announcement of result Immediately after the end of voting window Result of voting with votes received in favour and against each resolution.

 
Passing of resolutions by just show if hands in meeting is avoidable due to following reasons:

  1. It is difficult to keep record of such voting. Later, any member can challenge the result in court. It would be difficult to provide evidence. With online voting – proper evidence and record is maintained and can be presented in court.
  2. In show of hands, counting of votes can lead to mistake.
  3. At times, more than one member from a family is present in the meeting. This can lead to double counting.
  4. In show of hands, and verbal communication of resolution, there are chances of miscommunication and misunderstanding.
  5. There might be members who are attending the meeting over video conference / remotely.

 
Conclusion: The best way to conduct an election or voting on resolution is to do it online on a Government of India approved eVoting platform. This ensures no member is denied his right to vote specially those who are resident in some other city. All members should be given advance intimation and reasonable voting window. Features like Secret Ballot and Audit Trail should be used to ensure fairness and transparency. Online voting system also ensures presence of hard evidence which can be submitted to authorities, if required. This reduces chances of any litigation in future.

Trade unions or employee associations are associations of employees of a particular trade. These are organizations with a democratically elected management committee that represents all employees in negotiations with employers and help employees as well as employers to maintain a balanced relationship between them. The unions have gained ground due to the rapid industrial development. The workers around the world have come together to create employee associations in their respective organizations that would give them a proper ground to fight for better wages and working conditions.

The History of Trade Unions in India:

The industrial workforce in India began in the second half of the Nineteenth century after multiple clothing and textile mills were established in the port cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.  Bombay Mill-Hands Association, founded by the father of the Indian Trade Union Movement, N.M. Lokhande in 1890 is presumably the first Indian workers association. The first registered and organized Trade Union in India is considered to be the Madras Labour Union in 1918, founded by B.P. Wadia.

Union Election and its Problems: 

Every five years, Trade unions hold elections by ballots to fill certain governing positions. Following the respective rules, any member of the union can stand for any respective statutory position, depending on his eligibility. The trade union elections are generally held by booth-based paper ballot and/or postal ballot.  In the case of postal ballots, the trade union sends the voting papers inside a pre-paid envelope to the voters in their respective homes together with small statements written by the candidates. The voters send back the papers to an unbiased independent person, appointed by the trade union, who would count the votes accurately.

 The major problem faced by the employee association is the amount of corruption that happens around these elections. As the entire process is time-consuming and human-dependent, it’s quite easy to plant the seeds of corruption inside without getting caught or noticed.  Apart from that, the paper-ballot voting is extremely expensive, as reams of paper need to be printed and send to the respective voters. It not only costs a lot of money but also takes a lot of time to conclude the entire process. As the entire process is human-dependent, small human errors are inevitable too.

 

How Technology Can Solve These Problems? 

Trade unions hold multiple elections based on the structure and size of the organizations. The process can get really complicated due to the involvement of a large number of people in various groups. Implementing online voting technology can reduce the complexity and help manage the entire process with ease.

Less Time Taking:

Online Voting websites like Right2Vote, don’t require human intervention, and that results in more accurate results and less time-consuming elections. Ballot voting in trade union elections requires a lot of time to print papers, sending of them to the voters, and counting of votes. The fully digitalized online process makes it easy for the voters as well as the employers to conclude the entire process much quicker and more efficiently.

More Private and Secured Voting:

The privacy of a voter can sometimes be compromised in ballot voting, as the entire process is human-dependent. Online voting through smart devices can dismiss the chances of outside influence, making the process more secure and transparent for the voters. This fully automated system assures the voter that the vote details remain only with the voter and guarantees accurate results in the election.

Cost-Effectiveness: 

The cost behind postal services and printing lacs of papers are reduced as voters will only need to use a smartphone or a device connected to the internet to cast their votes. The cost behind appointing people who were needed earlier to do certain works can also be reduced. The process excludes the involvement of a third person who used to count votes and it not only cut down the cost but also makes the process smoother.

Maximizing Participation of the Voters:

Online voting apps such as Right2Vote can ensure more involvement, as voters living at a certain distance can always use a smart device to cast their votes. Using an online voting system, a lot of voters who couldn’t cast their votes previously can easily use this technology to cast their respective votes. The process is easier and definitely a better way to cast votes in complete secrecy.

Insolvency and bankruptcy code is nothing but a mechanism of settling failed or bankrupt entities without causing damage to any players of the economy. The code was passed by the parliament as a welcome gesture that overhauls the existing framework dealing with insolvency of corporations, individuals and partnerships. It paves way for the much-needed reforms while focusing on creditor driven insolvency resolution.

Measures were taken by the government of India-

Recognising that reforms in bankruptcy and insolvency regime are critical for improving and improvising the business ambience, the government took up the onus of introducing this bill. The bill was introduced in November 2015, drafted by specially constituted bankruptcy law reforms Committee (BLRC) under the ministry of finance. After being drafted, it was recognised by the joint committee of parliament. Both houses of parliament finally allowed the bill to come into effect on 2016.

Applicability of the code-

The provision of the code shall apply for insolvency along with liquidation, voluntary liquidation and bankruptcy of the following.

🗸Any organisation incorporated under the companies act, 2013 or under any previous laws.
🗸Any limited liability partnership under LLP act 2008
🗸Partnership firms and individuals

The objective of the code-

The objective is very simple. It complies for a sound legal framework of bankruptcy law that is required for achieving transparent targets. It allows for improving and improvising the handling of conflicts between creditors and debtors. What it does is, it provides certainty about the process of negotiation, in such a way to decrease problem amongst common property and decrease the information asymmetry.

It also controls the macroeconomic downturns and makes things simple and approachable. It will help you to consolidate and amend laws relating to reorganisation and insolvency, partnership firms and individuals.

The pivotal characteristics of the code-

Resolution of the insolvency-

The insolvency and bankruptcy code 2016 lay down separate insolvency resolving methodologies for organisations, individuals along with partner organisations. It is possible to initiate the procedure either through the creditors or the debtors.

What the code does is, it lays down a maximum time frame for completion of insolvency resolution. The entire modus operandi needs to be completed within the time frame of one hundred of eighty days. It can later be stressed to ninety days only. It can be done only when the large percentage of creditors permit or agree.

Regulator of insolvency-

The code lays down that the insolvency and bankruptcy board of India shall oversee the proceedings relating to insolvency in the nation. They regulate all organisations that are registered by the board. The insolvency and bankruptcy board shall consist of a ten-member team. It includes a representative of law and finance ministries as well as the RBI.

Insolvency and bankruptcy adjudicator-

The code has introduced a couple of district tribunals for overseeing the approaches for resolving insolvency. These are (1) National company law tribunal for organisations and limited liability partnership. (2) Debt recovery tribunal for overseeing insolvency resolution.

Procedures-

An insolvency plea is given to the authority that adjudicates by operation or financial creditors or the corporate debtor. The plea can be accepted or rejected in a maximum time frame of fourteen days. In any case, if the plea gets acceptance then the tribunal will have to appoint an IRP for drafting a plan of resolution within 180 days. Further, the court would initiate the entire process of resolving corporate insolvency.

During this time frame, the top honchos of the company shall remain suspended, whereas the promoters shall have no further say in the management. The IRP can seek the help of the management of a particular company. In case the CIRP is unable to receive the organisation, then a process of liquation shall be a remaining constraint.

Amendments-

Quite a few individuals are obstructed from providing any plan of resolution in case there are any defaulters. Hence the wilful defaulters, management or promoters of the company in case there is any non-performing outstanding debt.

The smooth functioning of the code-

The smooth functioning of the code depends on the functioning of the latest entities such as insolvency professionals. These entities will have to evolve for the proper functioning of the system. Besides, the NCLT will adjudicate corporate insolvency has not been constituted and the DRT’s are overloaded with pending cases.

Bring about far-reaching reforms-

The code promises to bring about far-reaching reforms with a thrust a creditor drove insolvency resolution. It aims to identify financial failure and maximising the asset value of insolvency firms. The code does have a special provision to address cross border insolvency. It can be done through bilateral agreements and reciprocal arrangements with some other countries.

Conclusion-

The intention of the code is doing away with antiquated existing laws covering aspects of insolvency and bankruptcy. Though the code sets out certain provisions to amend and override the existing laws to avoid litigation the days to come, clear provisions are needed. It explicitly states the existing laws being repealed by the introduction of this legislation. Apart from this, the bill also restricts the selling of defaulter’s property to any such individual right at the time of liquidation.

Disclaimer: The content is written by an external author. Right2Vote does not take responsibility for the accuracy or quality of the content.

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