Bihar Elections to See 100% Webcasting for the First Time in India
Bihar Elections will be conducted with 100% webcasting across all the polling booths in the state. This revolutionary step comes after Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “match-fixing” in Maharashtra elections.
The Election Commission wants to ensure that every citizen sees the election process as transparent and trustworthy that’s why to rule out any possibility of such claims they have announced 100% webcasting at all polling stations in Bihar for the upcoming Bihar elections in October-November.
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Bihar Elections to Set a New Record with 100% Webcasting
Ahead of the Bihar elections scheduled to be around October-November later in the year, the Election Commission has made it mandatory to record the voting procedure while maintaining the confidentiality of votes. Prior to this, there have been similar attempts, where 50% polling booths in Delhi witnessed live webcasting.
The Election Commission also stated how the confidentiality of all the voters will be maintained. The cameras will not face the EVM or VVPAT, so that nobody gets to see who is voting for whom. The EVM units are already physically shielded to avoid such attempts so this would not be very different.
The webcasting will capture the normal activities and ensure that the voters are not coerced into voting for some particular candidates. Anyone who tries to disrupt the proceedings either by entering the booth without authority or by ‘fixing’ will be caught. This is to ensure that results remain safe from manipulation. Any suspicious activity or delays will be monitored and dealt with accordingly.
Rahul Gandhi’s Match-Fixing Allegations Trigger EC’s Big Move
The Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the BJP engaged in ‘match-fixing’ at the Maharashtra elections and demanded video footage of the voting procedure at 5PM. He went further with that claim and said that the next Bihar elections will be fixed.
Earlier, the opposition has also claimed hacking of EVMs. Election Commission has always replied to these claims promptly, where first they openly challenged anyone to participate in the hackathon and hack the EVMs. But nobody came forward to accept the challenge. And now to counter such claims of match-fixing the EC has announced live webcasting at all the polling stations across India with Bihar being the first state to implement 100% webcasting.
The Webcasting Mechanism
As we have already discussed, this is the first time in Bihar elections’ history that all polling stations will be under 100% surveillance. The live video from each booth will be available in real-time to the control centres responsible for the monitoring. Such control centres will be constructed at the state, district, and Assembly constituency levels across Bihar. The staff at such centres will be trained to track any irregularities such as presence of an unauthorised person and delay in the procedure. Then their task is to notify the respective election officials like the presiding officer, returning officer, or EC-appointed observers.
Handling Internet Black Spots
For the areas where internet connection is not available or strong, the Election Commission has allowed the use of cameras which will take photos and videos through the voting process. This is to ensure that no black spots / shadow areas remain out for the reach of the Election Commission while webcasting. So, this attempt of making Bihar elections transparent appears to be a very effective plan.
Conclusion
This technical webcasting system in Bihar elections will help in eliminating any discrepancies or malpractice. For a country like India which is the world’s largest democracy, this becomes more crucial to ensure accountability and accuracy in the electoral procedures to reinforce the public’s trust in democracy.
In an attempt at making the voting experience more efficient and the EC has announced E-voting through smartphone in the Bihar elections 2025. This is first time in the history of Indian elections that such strategies are used. The E-voting mechanisms is only available in certain areas of Bihar and for a specific group which includes senior citizens, pregnant women, individuals with special abilities and migrants but this will really revolutionize the way elections are held in India.
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