<i>(Snigdha has keen interest towards developmental sciences, numbers, data that shape societies.)</i>
Foreign tourists usually come with backpacks and suitcases but a seven-member delegation from Namibia came as spectators to buy Indian-made briefcases. Briefcases that capture the pulse of the nation: the EVMs, Electronic voting machines.
Holding these General elections must be a mammoth task for the Election Commission with nine phases, 9,35,000 polling stations in 543 constituencies for which there are 1.7 million voting machines. It's been a decade since EVMs became the sole method of voting in India and it has been a success so far. They are portable, quick, reliable and most importantly user-friendly with 64 blue buttons with party symbols next to them.
This EVM success story has travelled the world and invoked interest in the African continent too. As Namibia gears up for the 2014 Presidential elections, the introduction of EVMs is a hot topic. There is a seven-member team from the Election Commission of Namibia visiting India to witness the elections, specifically the use of EVMs. Namibia will be introducing EVMs for a free, fair 2014 Namibian Presidential elections later this year.
Now, Namibia's population is not even in the top 100 in the world so why the need for the EVM system? Well, it would make polling more transparent and efficient in the large country. Namibia will be the first country in the African continent to introduce the use of EVMs. The ECN's (Election Commission of Namibia) voter education campaigns are aimed at ensuring the proper use of these machines. Namibia has already purchased about 1700 EVMs and ordered more than 3000 for their elections this year. The team is spending time in India catching all the drama in this six-week election process. The Election Commission of Namibia will be witnessing the whole election process and will also learn the counting process.
Now there are some European countries like Ireland and Netherlands that ruled out the electronic voting system citing reliability issues, but India is an example where the advantages have outweighed the disadvantages. While the world is closely watching the largest democracy go through the election season, developing nations like Namibia are importing Indian manufactured machines for use in their own contests.
Amid all the political drama and rallies, 2014 Indian elections would leave behind a legacy of not just democracy but also EVMs.
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