The CEC of remote voting is expected to see the light of day in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Saturday hoped that the concept of remote voting would see “the light of day” by the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, adding that the pilot project could begin in the next two-three months.

Addressing a program here, he said, the Election Commission had earlier this year launched a research project to enable remote voting from IIT Madras and eminent technologists in collaboration with IITs and other premier institutes.

Over the past few months, a dedicated team has been working hard to shape the project, adding that the concept is expected from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to “see the light of day”.

The first pilot project could be completed in the next two to three months.

There is a need to underline that the purpose of the project is neither Internet-based voting nor does it motivate voting from home, he observed. For the commission, transparency and confidentiality of voting has always been a guiding consideration in ensuring free, fair and credible elections, he said, adding that the commission will soon shape the final model of such voting after deliberating on various options.

Some procedures will be changed, he said, adding that there will be extensive consultations with political parties and other stakeholders.

Explaining the “blockchain” technology involved in the project, former Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena earlier said the concept was “two-way in a controlled environment on white-listed IP devices over dedicated Internet lines capable of biometric devices.” There is an electronic voting system. ” And a webcam “.

However, Mr. Saxena had made it clear that voters would have to arrive at a designated place during a predetermined period to be able to use the facility.

This does not mean voting from home, Mr. Saxena said.

On the issue of the Commission’s proposal to allow eligible foreign Indian voters to use unilaterally electronically transferred postal ballots to cast votes, Mr. Arora said that after the elections to the five legislatures are over, the voting panel will meet with all stakeholders Will hold a seminar, in which it was suggested. Government.

He hoped that the concept would come to fruition in the next six months or a year.

Currently, NRIs can vote in the constituency in which their place of residence, as mentioned in the passport, is located. Some time ago, the Commission began exploring options to enable NRIs to vote after receiving several requests for expatriate Indians to expand their voting options.

At the event, Bhartrihari Mahtab (BJD), Supriya Sule (NCP) and Srirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena) were awarded the ‘ad Sans Maha Maha Ratna Award’ for their overall qualitative performance in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Twelve MPs, including the chairman of a parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, were given the Sans Ratna Awards.

The awards were established in 2010 by the Chennai-based NGO Prime Point Foundation and Imagin Presence.