Gujarat ready to click, take first step in e-voting
June 18, 2010: The Indian Express
In November this year, when Gujarat holds municipal polls, the country will have its first brush with online voting. So the State Election Commission is working overtime, thinking of scenarios, countering threats, both cyber and logistic, to take the first step towards the next big step — from EVMs to e-voting.
Counter-measures are being put in place against hacking, virus attacks and possible parallel websites to misguide voters. A Vadodara-based cyber security agency has been tasked with protection of the SEC website and the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) through which e-voting will be done. It will be the first attempt at online polling though it will involve voters in only six municipal corporation areas.
State Election Commissioner K C Kapoor said, “We are going to have foolproof online voting with no chance of anyone hacking into the system or resorting to bogus polling.¶
He said the central data centre would be in the state secretariat, functioning with technical backup from N-Code, IT division of Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company.
Kapoor said Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked the SEC in 2009 if online voting was feasible. The SEC began studying online voting in several countries of Europe and drew up a detailed plan for e-voting.
