In his farewell address on Monday (February 17, 2025), outgoing Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar emphasized the need for a totaliser system to ensure confidentiality in polling station-wise voting patterns. He stated that it is high time Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are empowered to vote from their locations.
Ahead of his retirement at the age of 65, Kumar called for a consensus on remote voting mechanisms to facilitate voting for crores of migrant voters. He advocated for biometric authentication at polling booths to effectively tackle voter impersonation.
Kumar highlighted the importance of mandatory online reporting of political party expenditures to enhance financial transparency and analytics. He also stressed the need for political promises to be backed by financial disclosures, with courts facilitating early decisions.
He warned about the serious risk unregulated social media algorithms pose to elections worldwide and emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue. Kumar asserted that election management bodies must develop the capacity to counter mischievous, baseless, and strategically timed criticism.
“Technology has been a powerful enabler in our electoral processes, helping refine voter rolls, streamline operations, and engage citizens more effectively,” he said, noting that the Election Commission has been at the forefront of adopting technology.
He mentioned that innovations like biometric authentication could further prevent impersonation and multiple voting, ensuring every vote belongs to the rightful voter.
Regarding the current vote-counting system, Kumar pointed out that it allows candidates to know from which polling station they received votes, leading to post-election violence, victimization, and exclusion of opposition supporters from developmental activities. To address this, he advocated for the use of the totaliser system, developed by the Commission, which would ensure the confidentiality of polling station-wise votes.
“I believe that this matter should be explored, political consensus attempted, and tested on a pilot basis to enhance voter secrecy and protect the integrity of the electoral process,” Kumar concluded.