Russia’s Adoption of eVoting Nationwide
Russia’s nationwide adoption of eVoting in the upcoming election
eVoting or online voting is a 21st-century concept that has been implemented in various parts of the world including a few first-world countries.
The system helps voters and election management to vote or manage elections without any obstruction, creating a hassle-free and easy technology for concluding major public or corporate elections.
As many private sectors along with social clubs, and corporates around the world have already embraced the idea of managing elections online, the public sectors and governmental bodies are still in the initial stages of trying the technology.
The entire process is automated, so the risk of any sort of election manipulation can be avoided. It also helps the elderly people to vote from the comfort of their own houses. The process is quick and can be done without spending a lot of money.
Due to such benefits, many countries are willing to implement this system nationwide. Russia is one of the few.
Online election in Russia:
eVoting has always been a controversial chapter in the political environment of Russia. In September 2021, ahead of the state Duma election, the country tested the system of remote electronic voting in seven regions.
The controversial system of online elections has got expanded by the lawmakers of Russia to be used in all national elections ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, where President Vladimir Putin’s re-election is certainly anticipated.
In March, this year the lower parliamentary house of the country passed amendments adopting the online electoral system across the country.
The State Duma in the press conference said that the people of Russia will be able to vote via a special mobile application, developed solely for the nationwide elections.
This is considered a progressive step by many global leaders who have appreciated this bold step and considered it a step toward complete digitalization in the world.
The software regarding online elections:
In Russia, Kaspersky Lab, the infamous anti-virus software company, has developed an electronic voting system, based on blockchain technology, after-sales dropped significantly and there were accusations from Europe and the United States of America of spying.
State-backed major telecom provider Rostelecom has also developed an e-voting technical solution alongside Waves Enterprise, a Russian company developing a blockchain platform for business and government.
However, the use of technology developed by Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies (DIT) and Kaspersky Lab during the elections for the Moscow City Council 2019, revealed several technological issues.
How can the online system of voting become a full-fledged law?
In order to become a law, the bill related to online voting needs to obtain a majority in the upper parliamentary house of Russia and be signed by President Putin himself.
As Russia has recently launched a controversial unprovoked invasion/military action against Ukraine, President Putin has still not officially told anything about his decision to run for re-election in 2024’s presidential election.
Also, the falsification of election results in previous elections dramatically harmed the democracy of Russia.
To enforce the law, the country needs to rebuild its citizen’s trust which is one of the most crucial parts of implementing it by 2024.
