Emergency Comms

GPS mobiles used to secure Indian elections

By Robin Hicks | 25 March 2009

Bangalore, the technology capital of India, will be using technology to improve the transparency of its elections in the state.

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The Election Commission (EC) is for the first time using GPS-enabled mobile handsets to monitor and track the most sensitive polling stations in the state.

“We are conducting this experiment on a pilot basis and based on its success it will be extended across the country,” said M N Vidyashankar, the Chief Electoral Officer.

The EC has distributed around 30 handsets to sector officers spread across various parliamentary constituencies in the state. With the help of these handsets the EC can communicate with its designated officers and rush them to places where violation of model code of conduct or electoral malpractices are committed, Vidyashankar said.

The GPS-enabled handsets will help monitor at least 450 most sensitive polling stations across the state.

The EC has also introduced for the first time a web reporting system through which information will be collected on code violations from all districts online. The system enables collation of information related to missing voters in electoral rolls, violation of model code of conduct, among others. If any officer fails to send the information on time, there is a provision to issue a warning to that officer online.

This new system also allows uploading of newspaper and TV clippings that can attract the attention of election commission on the system. In the next stage the steps are being taken to feed information related to voting percentages on an hourly basis, he said.

Vidyashankar said the current election process will see an expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore (US$1.98 billion) across the country, while the official expenses are estimated to be around Rs 1,800 crore—nearly double when compared to elections in 2004.