AICF elections: Chauhan faction flags concerns over integrity, security of online voting

STATE TIMES NEWS

CHENNAI: A day ahead of the virtual elections to the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the Bharat Singh Chauhan faction on Sunday raised concerns over the integrity and security of online voting.
Chauhan, the incumbent secretary, listed out various concerns on the integrity of online voting and counting systems developed by a private company, in a mail to the AICF Election Officer K Kannan.
Chauhan requested Kannan, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to cancel virtual voting and conduct the election as per the provisions of the National Sports Development Code 2011.
The AICF is split into two factions headed by President P R Venketrama Raja and Chauhan who have been at loggerheads over various issues for more than a year.
In his mail Chauhan alleged that “without authenticity and tamper proof in voting data the chances are very high that Chennai businessmen like incumbent President Mr. Venketrama Raja will influence the entire election process for his benefits.”
Chauhan, who is seeking his second term as secretary, said when the Election Commission of India has the system of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) where lakhs of people vote, why nothing like that is being provided in this AICF elections where there are only 64 voters.
According to him, the online voting system is developed by a city-based software company which can be “tampered by an Admin controlling the voting process at any stage.”
The rival faction, however, dismissed all the concerns raised by the Chauhan camp.
“The concerns raised by them are baseless. They are definitely going to lose. Hence they are finding some reasons,” Vijay Deshpande, secretary, All Marathi Chess Association and part of the Raja camp, told PTI.
While the Chauhan camp has filed for president, secretary, treasurer, six vice-presidents and five joint secretaries, the Raja-led faction has filed for five vice- president posts and six joint secretaries apart from president, secretary and treasurer.