EVM in India: On Tuesday, April 16, there was a long debate in the Supreme Court on the petition demanding matching of voting and VVPAT slips. During this, the bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta expressed displeasure over the criticism of EVMs and the move to call for bringing back ballot papers.
During the hearing, Prashant Bhushan, the lawyer for the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, said that most voters no longer trust EVMs. He argued how voters in most European countries that voted through EVMs have now reverted to paper ballots.
Table of Contents
In response to this argument of Bhushan, Justice Sanjeev Khanna reacted sharply and said that we are in the sixth decade of our lives and everyone knows what kind of problems were faced when voting was done through ballot papers.
In such a situation, let us understand in detail in this report what these EVM machines are and how they work, how much does it cost to make them and how the election process of the country changed after their arrival.
In India, EVM machine or Electronic Voting Machine has become the most important part of the election process for the last two decades. For the last two decades, EVM is being used in every parliamentary and assembly elections in India.
EVM has faced criticism and allegations many times in its 45-year history, but according to the Election Commission, EVM has played a very important role in conducting free and fair elections.
What is an EVM machine
The full form of EVM is Electronic Voting Machine. It is a machine with the help of which the votes of voters are recorded during elections and this machine also counts those votes. EVM runs on ordinary battery.
It is made in two parts. The first part is the control unit (CU), the second part is the balloting unit (BU). The first and second parts are connected by a five meter long wire.
The EVM machine is not connected to any kind of network. According to the Election Commission, this machine is controlled by some kind of computer.
It does not even have a frequency receiver or decoder for its data. The machine is sealed after voting and is opened only on the day of results.
Who has the control and balloting unit
The control unit is with the returning officer and the balloting unit is kept in the voting compartment where voters come and vote for their favourite party or candidate.
How was voting done before the arrival of this machine
EVM was used for the first time in India in the year 1982. Before its introduction, voting was done using ballot paper. At that time, during voting, voters were given ballot papers and voters went to the voting compartment and stamped on whichever candidate they wanted. After this, the stamped ballot paper was put in the ballot box.
However, the system of EVM is quite different; no paper or seal is used in it.
During voting through EVM machine, the polling officer presses the ‘ballot’ button on the control unit, after which the voter presses the ‘blue button’ in front of his/her favourite candidate on the balloting unit and votes for his/her favourite candidate.
This vote is recorded in the control unit and the control unit can record 2000 votes at a time. After the voting is over, the counting of votes is also done from this unit.
Names of 16 candidates can be entered in one balloting unit
A total of 16 candidates’ names can be entered in one balloting unit of an EVM machine. In such a situation, if there are more than 16 candidates, then the balloting units can be connected to the control unit.
According to the Election Commission, 24 balloting units can be connected simultaneously in one EVM machine, which will allow voting for about 384 candidates including NOTA.
According to the Election Commission, EVM machine is very useful and it is more accurate than voting with paper ballot. The reason for this is that after voting is done with the machine, the possibility of casting wrong or unclear votes is eliminated.
EVM machines make it very easy for voters to cast their votes and also for the Election Commission to count the votes.
Who designed the EVM machine?
In India, this machine has been manufactured by two government companies. These companies are Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which comes under the Ministry of Defense, and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), which comes under the Department of Atomic Energy.
The idea of using this machine first came in 1977
According to the Election Commission, the idea of using machines for voting in this country first came up in the year 1977. The then Chief Election Commissioner S.L. Shakdhar had talked about the use of voting machines.
At that time, the responsibility of designing and developing this machine was given to Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad.
In 1979, for the first time a model of EVM was developed in India, which was demonstrated in front of the Election Commission on 6 August 1980. Later, BEL company of Bangalore was also selected to develop it.
Can EVMs be tampered with?
In the month of May, 2010, scientists of the University of Michigan, America had claimed that they have such technology using which they can hack the EVMs of India.
Researchers had claimed that the results of EVM machines can be changed by sending text messages from mobile phones. However, former Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy has a completely different opinion on this.
Responding to this question in a BBC report, he said, “The design of the machines used in India are very strong machines and I don’t think it is so easy to hack them.”
He further said, “It is possible that the officials operating the machine at the polling booth may not be able to operate it properly but these machines have to undergo very strict checking before voting.”
Krishnamurthy also said, “Even though there have been allegations of EVMs being hacked earlier, these allegations have still not been proven in the court and the Supreme Court has dismissed the case.”
