Indian election to be fully transparent

Holding the world’s biggest democratic election is no mean feat, with 900m Indians across the country eligible to vote between April 11 and May 19.

To iron out some of the hiccups of India’s previous 16 national ballots – and increase public trust in the democratic process – the Election Commission has introduced a slew of new measures.

With an estimated 300m illiterate adults across India, photos of candidates will now feature alongside party symbols on electronic voting machines.

The devices have been dogged by claims they can be hacked, but will now print out a chit for each voter, who can confirm the details before dropping it in a sealed box inside the polling booth.

Random matching of the chits and numbers of votes on the machines should verify no tampering was done.

Vehicles transporting the voting machines will also be fitted with GPS devices to monitor their movements.

In the outgoing parliament there were 186 lawmakers facing criminal charges or being investigated – some 112 of them involving serious cases such as murder or rape.

This time, candidates under a legal cloud have to issue three newspaper and TV advertisements detailing any charges they face in the constituency where they’re standing.

The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) charity reported in 2014 that candidates facing criminal charges had a higher chance of winning elections compared to those without – either by intimidating voters or from buying influence.

Candidates have to declare income and tax returns for the past five years – the information is made public before the vote – as well as submit details of any assets and liabilities in their name abroad. Webcams broadcasting live on the internet will monitor 5,000 polling stations and all counting halls, allowing voters to keep a close eye on proceedings in real time.

India is Facebook’s biggest market, with smartphone use exploding since the last election thanks to the world’s cheapest data tariffs.

Candidates have to declare their social media accounts in legal filings when they apply to become an election candidate.

This is aimed at monitoring and ending the misuse of social media during the polls.

Facebook India has said it will run “published by” or “paid for by” disclaimers on political advertising.–