Using IT to correct the voter list

The current methodology adopted by the Election Commission to correct and update the voter list is unlikely to produce the desired results. The EC should be pro-active and infuse some fresh ideas to rectify the voter list to the satisfaction of the general public, and the eligible voters in particular.

One such idea could be to take advantage of information technology. Let me explain how IT can help. Even in the recent past, many in Bangladesh were quite skeptical about the success of submitting DV-2005 application forms on-line as per the requirement. Hard-copy applications were not accepted.

What was the result? Even a person who had never seen a computer before could eventually submit the form! Necessity for migration to the greener pastures of the US led to the wide use of IT in Bangladesh. It also revealed the power of private sector IT in Bangladesh. We saw a mushrooming growth of cyber-cafes even in small towns of Bangladesh, where the village based intending applicants could, at a minimal cost, fill up their "dream" applications.

Now it is all up to the EC, whether they want to use IT or not. I would urge the honourable members of the EC to give it a try, and they will be surprised to see the abilities of the so-called impoverished and illiterate people of Bangladesh. If the impoverished women of Bangladesh could win the Nobel Prize for Peace, a correct and flawless voter roll is far too simple a goal for them to achieve. The true lessons of Grameen are that people should be trusted, and all they need is an enabling environment for success.

This is how you can help.

To start with, the Election Commission must upgrade its current web site, www.ecs.gov.bd to something more useful and user-friendly for those who want to visit it. It lacks even the basic feature like FAQ (frequently asked questions) which even the website (www.ecp.gov.pk) of Election Commission of Pakistan has got.

This is an essential tool to tell the voters about "who, "what," and "how" of voter registration in particular, and conduct of an election in general. Relevant forms for the voters to register or to de-register must be made easily accessible. User-friendliness and easy accessibility to these forms in the website (www.eci.gov.in) of the Election Commission of India may be seen as examples.

To use IT as a deliverer from the current task of rectifying the electoral roll for general election 2007, may I humbly put forward a few suggestions which may duly be deliberated upon with the web-site related IT specialists, and executed to attain the desired objective, i.e. to go for the polls with a correct and up-to-date voter list.

• 300 pdf. files containing voter rolls of three hundred parliamentary constituencies may immediately be uploaded for public viewing. We are already aware of the existence of such voter rolls in compact discs (CDs) with the Election Commission.
• Forms 2, 7, and 9 to be uploaded for registration, inclusion of names and deletion of non-available voters. These forms must be accessible, downloadable and printable easily. All the 83 district election offices ought to be raised to this task with out-sourced assistance from the local cyber-cafes.
• Accept filled up forms on-line, if possible, or else printable downloaded forms ought to be accepted without problem, which will be duly signed or thumb impression imprinted by the voters. 9 deputy election commissioners may be assigned with the task of overseeing acceptance of these voters in their respective regions and scrutinizing the voter rolls of their respective divisions.
• As a test case, on-line registration of voters for the parliamentary constituencies comprising Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan areas may be introduced and accepted as valid.
• Assign private sector IT companies, to undertake the task in the six divisions of the country under supervision of the deputy election commissioners. This will speed up the process of voter roll rectification within the given time frame.

There is a general impression in the public that it is only the political parties who insist on a correct voter roll, and the EC is averse to it. In fact, the reverse may be the case. A politician friend of mine told me the other day that the benefits of "bhua" voters may go either way, depending on whoever has control of the particular polling center.

The Election Commission cannot remain oblivious to this scenario. It is the sacred task of the Election Commission to produce a correct voter roll, and to conduct the elections fairly; failing which they will fail the nation and put the future of democracy at risk.

The author is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.