Is Bangladesh going for e-voting?

Published: February 06, 2017 19:23:06 | Updated: October 19, 2017 09:40:50

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NOW-A-DAYS everything is going online and e-related terminologies are very common all over the world. Bangladesh has also adopted the vision for a "digital Bangladesh" by 2021. Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) has declared to introduce electronic voting machine (EVM) in the next parliamentary elections. It already applied this technology in some local elections successfully. But the question is, is Bangladesh ready yet for such a change? Adopting this new technology involves security concerns regarding EVM. Criticisms are there that this system can be easily manipulated. EVM have two main components: 1. Control unit, used by poll workers, which stores and accumulates the votes, and 2. A ballot unit, located in the election booth, which is used by voters. The system is powered by a battery pack inside the control unit. Electronic Voting Machines can be secure only if the source code used in the EVM is genuine. But the EVM manufacturers, have shared the 'top secret' EVM software programme with two foreign companies, Microchip (USA) and Renesas (Japan) to copy it onto microcontrollers used in EVMs. Apart from manipulating the software, any insider or fraud can also interfere in its hardware by inserting malicious hardware that can steal votes. Or anyone who has the access of the EVMs can take the memory card out and insert a new one with virus which can tamper with votes. Moreover, there is no way to verify the votes without memories in this system. There are also no possible ways for audit or recounting of the votes. Even several countries of the world like Ireland, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Ukraine have rejected EVMs at different times due to security concern. Undoubtedly it is an appreciable move taken by the government as Bangladesh needs to keep up with the progress of technology and development around the world. But as there is a serious threat of fraud, it does not seem proper to secure EVM. We must look before we leap. Afrina Ali 
Schooling with East West University
[email protected]

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