Unsubstantiated hue and cry for EVM

By: Dr. Sanchita Ghatak, Asstt. Editor, ICN Group 

LUCKNOW: The recently held Gujarat elections or any other voting process in India for that matter is always under scrutiny and criticism. My personal belief is that it is all political for the simple reason that Indian EVMs are considered to be safe enough. No adequate proof has been submitted till date by any political party or organisation till now.

The EVMs cannot be hacked as it is not at all connected to any network or internet or Bluetooth or WiFi. The EVMs that are reportedly displaying dishonest totals or claimed to be hacked are NOT at all used by Election Commission of India rather are prepared by these stage managers.

Further there is no software available that can modify the data of candidates or the votes that are stored on computer chips used in EVMs. And here comes the climax! The EVMs that includes balloting unit (BU) and the main control unit (CU) are displayed to all the candidates and their representatives who have to put their seals post satisfaction. Once you put your seal then it means that you are satisfied that the particular machine is working properly.

Moreover, button numbers of candidates of different political parties are different at different constituencies. A mock polling test (with more than 50 votes polled at random) is held in the presence of the agents and officials just one hour before the polling starts, the result of which is shown to everyone. Once Okayed, the CU is sealed and secured. 

If we take the data into consideration around 1,368,430 EVMs were used in 2009 elections. Can you really manipulate around 1.5 lakh EVMs across India or 26865 Ballot Units (BUs) and 24689 Control Units (CUs) used in Gujarat elections held in December 2017? The number itself is very high to be mishandled and the system involved thereof is considered to be foolproof. Further the media and political parties are always having the hawk’s eye on the whole of election process including movement and use of EVMs pre and post voting.

Another apprehension is that you vote and it goes in the account of a particular candidate. This allegation can be ridiculed with the simple fact that the chip that records the voting data is imported all in the sealed form and cannot be opened or manipulated without visible damage to the chip. Further the list and order of candidates’ name comes into picture only two weeks before the actual voting takes place. So, the time available is critically less to manipulate the machines.

Another fact is that the machines to be used for voting is randomly selected a day before the voting day and that too in the presence of the candidates. So, this also comes out to be error-free. Even on the D-day, the ‘result’ button is pressed to verify that no pre or hidden votes are registered in the EVM.

After the voting is over, the ‘close’ button is pressed and it makes it secure in the sense that the EVM cannot accept any further vote. This is further secured with the disconnection from the CU. After the voting process is over the ‘Total’ button is pressed to know about the total votes polled. So, the number of votes cannot be manipulated as it is known to all.

The digital India is all set to mark its presence all across and so is the use of EVMs. However, due the increasing hue and cry which of course cannot be substantiated with the secure mechanism used by EC in India and as discussed above, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) should be used in line with the orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

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