Invitation to One Vote's annual conference on rights, access, technology and elections
Zainab Bawa
The One Vote project will host its first Annual Conference on 25 January, 2022 — on National Voters Day, marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Election Commission of India — to examine the effects of technological interventions in electoral processes on the democratic rights and freedoms of citizens.
Date: Tuesday, 25 January, 2022
Time: 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Schedule and registration: https://hasgeek.com/onevote/annual-conference/schedule
The annual conference is a collaboration between Article 21 Trust and One Vote. It is curated by Maansi Verma, lawyer and a Trustee at Article 21 Trust.
Recently, the Indian Parliament passed The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that allows for Voter ID -Aadhaar linkage, despite evidence of Aadhaar contributing to marginalization of already vulnerable communities. Given the upcoming Assembly elections, it is imperative that all technological interventions in the electoral process which risk mass disenfranchisement be scrutinized.
Article 21 Trust and the One Vote project aim to highlight key functions and operations of technology in the elections, the voting process and governance in general. This is to create a robust framework for evaluating the pros and cons without endangering the democratic principles of transparency, privacy and universal franchise.
The Annual Conference will be moderated by Padmini Murray, Founder of Design Beku, and feature the following speakers: Usha Ramanathan (Scholar in Law), Anand Venkatanarayanan (Cybersecurity researcher), Nayantara Ranganathan (Lawyer; independent researcher), TVS Sasidhar (Assistant Professor at Azim Premji University), Jagdeep Chhokar (Founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms), SQ Masood (Social activist; Hon. Secretary ASEEM), Seema Chishti (Journalist and writer). Speakers will cover topics including voter data privacy and impact of Voter ID-Aadhaar linking; disenfranchisement of electors in Telangana; electoral bonds; political advertising; Pegasus, surveillance and risks for electoral democracy, among others.
We’d like to invite you to participate in the conference and contribute to the discussions. For queries, write to Chantal at cha...@hasgeek.com or Neeta at ne...@hasgeek.com or call 7676332020.