Kannada Sahitya Parishat chief pushes for online polls

The Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP) is planning to introduce online, OTP-based elections, which will be the first such experiment for the 107-year-old premier literary body.

The parishat is working out the modalities for online elections to cut down expenditure and encourage more Kannadigas to participate in a “hassle-free” voting process.

If everything goes as per plan, then the 2026 parishat elections will be held online.

The KSP has already designed a mobile app that allows citizens to register for membership. Apparently, eight people across the world are signing up to become KSP members every minute. At present, there are 3.5 lakh members and KSP president Mahesh Joshi wants to enrol one crore people.

About Rs 1.5 crore was spent in the 2021 election. Despite this, the voter turnout was low. “There are people who do not come out of their comfort zone to cast the vote. Hopefully, if everything goes well, we will have an OTP-based online or app-based election in 2026 so that people can vote from wherever they are,” Joshi, the former Doordarshan additional director-general, said.

A committee, headed by retired High Court judge Arali Nagraj, was formed for this purpose. “We have to amend the KSP regulations in order to enable online elections. The committee will look into the amendments proposed before finalising it,” Joshi added.

Currently, the state government is conducting the KSP elections by deputing a senior bureaucrat as the returning officer.

Last year, 420 booths were set up across the state at taluk and district levels. Wherever the number of voters was more, booths were set up even at the hobli level. The KSP had to bear all the expenses - printing of ballot papers, setting up of the booth, transportation etc.

“If we shift to app-based elections, then there won’t be any such worries. One can cast their vote just by clicking on the app, which saves both time and money. There won’t be scope for malpractices,” Joshi said.

How does it work?

Once the KSP announces the election date and timings, members have to visit the app. Next, they should enter their membership number. The system will verify their identity after which they will get an electronically transmitted ballot paper. An OTP is sent with which they can vote.