Bihar Makes History with India's First e-Election with Blockchain Security

On June 28, 2025, Bihar became the first Indian state to pilot mobile-based e-voting during municipal by-elections in Buxar, Patna, Rohtas, and East Champaran. Around 50,000 voters were eligible to vote remotely using the e-SECBHR Android app, developed by C-DAC and the Bihar State Election Commission.

• Who Could Vote?
  The system was designed for:
  • Senior citizens
  • Pregnant women
  • Differently-abled individuals
  • Migrant workers
  • Seriously ill voters
• How It Worked
  
  • Registration: June 10–22 via the app or official website
  • Security: Blockchain-backed vote recording, facial recognition, voter ID checks, and VVPAT-style audit trail
  • Access: Two voters per mobile number; web voting available for those without smartphones
  • Voting Window: 7 AM–1 PM on polling day; counting on June 30

Why It Matters

India joins Estonia among the few experimenting with remote voting. Though this was a municipal pilot, it’s sparked buzz around potential use in the Bihar Assembly elections (Oct–Nov 2025).

While this pilot was for municipal elections, it’s sparked national interest. Whether it scales up for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections remains to be seen—but it’s a bold step toward digital democracy.

How Do Astronauts Vote From Space?

Fascinating blend of technology and democracy are working together to ensure everyone's voice can be heard, even from outer space.

Astronauts have the unique opportunity to vote from space, thanks to a special process set up by NASA.

The First Vote from Outer Space

David Wolf, the first American to vote in space, relaxes in the Spacehab module while Space Shuttle Atlantis was docked to Mir (10/16/1997)

The very first vote from space was cast by NASA astronaut David Wolf in 1997 while he was aboard Russia's Mir Space Station. This historic event was made possible by legislation passed by the Texas Legislature, which allowed NASA astronauts to cast ballots from orbit. The process involved sending an encrypted electronic ballot to the astronaut, which was then transmitted back to Earth and delivered to the appropriate county clerk's office.

Why Astronauts have to Vote from the Space?

The ability for astronauts to vote from space ensures that they can participate in the democratic process, even while they are on extended missions. It's a testament to the importance of civic duty and the innovative ways technology can support it.

Astronauts vote from space primarily because they may be on extended missions during election periods and cannot return to Earth to cast their ballots. This process ensures that astronauts can still participate in the democratic process while fulfilling their duties aboard the International Space Station (ISS) or other space missions.

The Setup

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins points to the International Space Station’s “voting booth” where she cast her vote from space this month. Credit: NASA

Image Credits - NASA

1. Application for Absentee Ballot: Before their mission, astronauts fill out a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to request an absentee ballot.

2. Secure Transmission: NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston sends the encrypted electronic ballot to the astronaut via a secure communication system.

3. Voting from Space: The astronaut fills out the ballot on an onboard computer, which is equipped with unique credentials to ensure security.

4. Transmission Back to Earth: The completed ballot is then encrypted and transmitted back to Earth using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).

5. Final Delivery: The ballot is relayed to the county clerk's office responsible for casting the ballot.

This process ensures that astronauts can participate in the democratic process even while they are orbiting Earth

Election Commission Exploring to Use Blockchain Tech for Remote Voting

To overcome the geographical barrier while casting votes, the Election Commission of India is exploring the potential of using blockchain technology to cast vote remotely.

Hoever, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra expressed concerns over transparency and voter security with blockchain’s distributed consensus mechanism. He said that various industries have tested blockchain technology but there are divergent views on scalability.

Chandra said, “How can we set up special remote polling stations when suppose a person is in a different place than their voter registration? This is a departure from a conventional polling station… Can we think of a machine which can generate a dynamic ballot paper? …We can look at the distributed consensus mechanism. How transparent is this? Is my vote a secret?”

However, Principal Scientific Adviser to the government, K VijayRaghavan is optimistic about blockchain’s potential in remote voting. According to the Indian Express, he cited research from Northeastern University in the US, saying, "I don’t see major pitfalls in using this system in major locations. I would urge that the EC could try this out as a mock exercise in some locations on a small scale and keep having stress tests to ensure it is durable."

Voting using blockchain is a not new thing in India, but will be unique when it comes to voting within world's largest democracy with 911 million eligible voters (2019 stats). Elemential Labs, which is a Matrix Partners backed startup, has built a blockchain-based e-voting solution for National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE), in September 2018.

To recall, in 2017 it was speculated that Election Commission was intended to use Blockchain technology in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to solve tampering of both EVM's software and hardwares.

Later in August 2018, Australian Blockchain organization, MiVote, which calls itself as an international direct democracy NGO, had signed a deal with Democratic Party of India (DPI), a registered political party with Election Commission of India, and with this DPI became the first Blockchain enabled Political Party in Asia.