Gujarat's oneline voting site is "not trustworthy", is "insecure", warn top web browsers Firefox, Chrome

Screenshot of Gujarat's online voting site

By A Representative
The Gujarat State Election Commission's (SEC's) “offer” a few days back to allow the voters to the state's municipal corporation elections, likely next month, that they could register on its website to avail of the “opportunity” offered by it for online voting, has failed security check on selected, more secure computer devices. As one visited the website's link for registering on a laptop for online voting, https://onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in/, a security alert declared that the site is not safe.
The SEC is responsible for holding elections to local bodies – municipal corporations, municipalities, and panchayats. It has offered to allow online voting through personal computers sitting at home in major cities such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. Municipalities have not been “allowed” the facility.
Browsed on Firefox on the highly-secure Ubuntu (Linux) operating system, after visiting the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gujarat.gov.in/index.htm, which prominently displays the photograph of ex-state chief secretary and SEC chairman Varesh Sinha, as one clicks on “Visit for Online Voting”, one is promptly directed to the online voting site link.
However, instead of allowing one to register for online voting, Firefox prominently declares, “This Connection is Untrusted.”
The message from Firefox reads, “You have asked Firefox to connect securely to onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.” It adds "Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.”
Asking the question “What Should I Do?”, the browser replies, "If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.”
As one clicks on “technical details” to find out the SEC's online registration site, the browser declares, “onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.” It adds, “The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates. An additional root certificate may need to be imported.”
This page section ends with the following remark: “(Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer).” Then it takes one to another link asking, whether “I understand the risk”, adding with the following remark, “If you understand what's going on, you can tell Firefox to start trusting this site's identification.”
Even then, the browser continues to warn, “Even if you trust the site, this error could mean that someone is tampering with your connection. Don't add an exception unless you know there's a good reason why this site doesn't use trusted identification.” Thereafter it takes one to “Add Exceptions...” and leaves one to take the “risk”.
Opening the site through a top branded tablet on Chrome browser had a similar result. With a big red icon of a bag having a cross in the middle, the warning says, "Your connection is not private", adding, "Attackers might be trying to steal your information from https://onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in (for example passwords, messages, or credit cards)."
Chrome underlines, "This server could not prove that it is https://onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in; its security certificate is not trusted by your device's operating system. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attack intercepting your connection."
It adds, "Proceed to https://onlinevotinggujarat.gov.in (unsafe)." Opening the SEC site from a desktop computer, however, did not result in the warning both on Chrome and on Firefox. It is suspected that the website developers have not have resolved security issues completely before developing the site.
The SEC's “untrustworthiness” comes days after the Supreme Court stay on elections to Gujarat's municipal corporations on a petition filed by a Vadodara citizen, who questioned the formation of new wards for polls, saying they “violated” the principle of reservation.

Comments

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup* I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Study links sanctions to 500,000 deaths annually leading to rise in global backlash

By Bharat Dogra International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge — Blurring the line between fiction and political narrative

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" does not wait to be remembered; it arrives almost on the heels of its predecessor, released on March 19, 2026, just months after the first film’s December 2025 debut. The speed of its arrival feels less like creative urgency and more like calculated timing—cinema responding not to storytelling rhythm but to the emotional climate of its audience. Director Aditya Dhar, along with actor Yami Gautam, appears acutely aware of this moment and how to harness it.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

BJP accounts for 99% of political donations in Gujarat: Corporate giants dominate

By Jag Jivan An analysis of the official data on donations received by national parties from Gujarat during the Financial Year 2024-25 reveals a staggering concentration of funding, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accounting for nearly the entirety of the contributions. The data, compiled in a document titled "National Parties donations received from Gujarat during FY-2024-25," lists thousands of transactions, painting a detailed picture of the financial backing for political parties from one of India’s most industrially significant states.

Alarming decline in India's repair culture threatens circular economy goals: Study

By Jag Jivan A comprehensive new study by environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link has painted a worrying picture of India's fading repair culture, warning that the trend towards replacement over repair is accelerating the country's already critical e-waste crisis.

Captains extraordinaire: Ranking cricket’s most influential skippers

By Harsh Thakor* Ranking the greatest cricket captains is a subjective exercise, often sparking passionate debate among fans. The following list is not merely a tally of wins and losses; it is an assessment of leadership’s deeper impact. My criteria fuse a captain’s playing record with their tactical skill, placing the highest consideration on their ability to reshape a team’s fortunes and inspire those around them. A captain who inherited a dominant empire is judged differently from one who resurrected a nation’s cricket from the doldrums. With that in mind, here is my perspective on the finest leaders the game has ever seen.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

‘No merit’ in Chakraborty’s claims: Personal ethics talk sans details raises questions

By Jag Jivan A recent opinion piece published in The Quint by Subhash Chandra Garg has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Atanu Chakraborty from HDFC Bank , with Garg stating that the exit “raises doubts about his own ‘ethics’.” Garg, currently Chief Policy Advisor at Subhanjali and former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, writes that the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) appears to find no substance in Chakraborty’s claims, noting, “It is clear the RBI sees no merit in Atanu Chakraborty’s wild and vague assertions.”

Search This Blog