Mangaluru: Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi on Sunday said online voting is not possible in the country, for security reasons of the internet and the voter.
“With hackers on prowl, allowing online voting is not a good idea,” Mr. Quraishi said, responding to a question at an interactive session on the National Voters Day here in the city.
Mr. Quraishi, who started the National Voters’ Day in 2011, said internet security is one of the major issues threatening online voting. Similarly, the issue of security to the voter who votes from individual premises is also the issue. While a voter exercises franchise under security in a polling booth, the same would not be available at individual premises, he said.
Besides, he also said that it was not possible to restrain a person with business interests entering legislatures. “Commission might consider ban on corporate funding of political parties”, he added.
Mr. Quraishi said compulsory voting is also not possible in India as democracy and force cannot go hand in hand. He gave an example of Australia where compulsory voting showed about 90 per cent of the electorate exercised its franchise. But, the government had incurred substantial expenditure in collecting fines from those who did not vote. In India, persuasive measures are yielding results with many states recording voting beyond 80 per cent and Tripura 93 per cent, he said.
Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim, Zilla Panchayat CEO Thulasi Maddineni, Superintendent of Police D.S. Sharanappa, Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Hepsiba Rani Korlaputi and others were present.
