“Vote ko Izzat Do”. Give respect to the Vote #Pakistan
When I was a kid I used to hear that elections are rigged and nobody is accepting the results except the winning party ofcourse and now I am a 35 years old man and I am still hearing things like elections are going to be rigged and some political parties are already giving up that they will not accept the results if they do not win.
It baffles me when I think about Pakistan being this powerhouse of tech talent where you cannot buy a SIM card without biometrics scanning but you can cast your vote on paper.
Anything that is based on paper today that is subject to human counting and human error can face allegations and can always be questioned forever and ever and ever.
Like 90% of us Pakistanis who just sit and crib about things without proposing a solution. I will try and be slightly different here.
THE SOLUTION
I will come straight to the point. If we want democracy to prevail 100% without a hint of rigging or fraud in elections in Pakistan we need to use biometrics based polling with a nice mix of Blockchain / Cryptography. I know that is not a surprise and you do not need a rocket scientist to suggest that I will further break it down to exact detailing of the process.
Governmental Organization that is handling data of the people in Pakistan such as ID/Passport etc is called NADRA and apparently they also have biometrics sample of every Pakistani. Thanks to NADRA now the ID cards are also based on chip.
ECP (Election commission of Pak) is the body that is responsible for elections and also the allocation of areas and jurisdictions (constituencies also known as Halqa).
NADRA and ECP will have to collaborate and will have to allocate people to their Halqa digitally.
1. Every individual who is allocated to the Halqa will receive a crypto key number (like a bitcoin number).
So for example I am allocated to NA 251 and PP 27 I will receive SMS in English as well as Urdu.
2. SMS from ECP:
ATTN: Ammar Akhtar you are allocated to NA 251 and PP 27 (Karachi Sindh). Please proceed to cast your vote on 25/7/2018 to DHA Model School Phase 4 Digital Polling Station between 10 am to 10 pm. Please do not forget to carry your NIC with you. Your crypto voting key is oo98093j and you our vote is important to the nation.
3. I arrive at the polling station on the allocated date and time and I enter the polling booth on my turn by showing my ID to the officials. In the polling booth I can see the candidates and their election symbol. I tap on the symbol I am voting for on touch screen (for NA and PP) and when asked I insert my NIC in the card machine, placing my thumb for biometrics identification (just like airport immigration smartgates) and enter my sms crypto key when asked and when all the three things match my vote will be accepted otherwise it will be rejected and I cannot cast my vote at any other location it will be only accepted in the particular digital polling station that was allocated to me and even if all three things match in any other polling station my vote will not be accepted. In any case my picture will be taken from the camera inside the machine as soon as the transaction is completed.
4. As soon as my vote is accepted it will be posted live (like stock symbols) and media can see the live feed of every polling station (in case if the feed is made available to the public).
5. I can always check my vote online as a proof of acceptance and transparency using a URL with my crypto ID. www.ecp.gov.pk/votecheck
The benefits of this procedure?
a) It will be impossible to cast a bogus vote.
b) Highly secure and impossible to influence a voter at the time of voting because the voter will be inside the digital polling booth and will not be under the supervision of any other individual.
c) Whole process will be in English and Urdu so everyone can vote.
d) People who cannot read / write can bring their blood relative member to help them cast the vote (conditional)
e) Nobody can vote outside of their constituency / area.
f) No possibility of 1 person and 100 votes. 1 person = 1 vote and full stop.
g) No need for staff to count the votes.
h) PTCL can help in hosting the servers locally under the supervision or NAB or Army.
The complexity of creating such a solution?
a) The only challenge I see is getting the first machine right and then bulk order can be given to the manufacturer with better price and quality based on public tender and selection.
b) Data of individuals is already available with NADRA.
c) ECP has to work with NADRA to feed the correct data as per constituency so that overlapping of vote will be impossible.
d) First time upload / launch will be tricky and then this sytem can be improved and data of voters as per their Halqa can be added on regular basis.
e) The cost of this whole infrastructure might be high in the beginning but in long term it turns out much cheaper than paying all the people who count votes and all the hassle that is around the voting.
I hope Election Commission of Pakistan and NADRA will read this and I hope and pray next elections in 2023 will be based on this mechanism.
Ameen.
Please note that this blog has no political motivation and I am a son of Pakistan who is just trying to suggest a solution.
Ammar Akhtar is Founder & CEO of 1CallGroup.
Entrepreneur and startup mentor. Business model innovator. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ammarakhtar/
IG:http://www.instagram.com/ammarakhtarofficial/
