NEW DELHI:AMID voices of concern over the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from many political parties, the Election Commission stated there is no merit in the claims related to tampering of EVMs given the technical and administrative safeguards.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Election Commission said “baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being made which deserve to be rejected”.
“The Commission has put in place an elaborate technical and administrative system of safeguards to ensure error-free functioning of EVMs in elections. The Commission is thus fully satisfied with the tamper proof functioning of the ECI-EVMs,” the EC said.
The commission said it did not find any merit in such allegations and rejected all such suspicions raised by some political parties.
“ECI assures all citizens that EVMs of ECI are temper proof and fully satisfied with the integrity of electoral process using EVM. ECI will further enhance confidence of citizens in ECI’s electoral process by deploying VVPAT in phased manner,” it said.
The EC’s rebuttal came a day after Mayawati said she will move court against the alleged tampering of EVMs.
Kejriwal too had alleged that EVMs may have been tampered with in Punjab, adding “it is about the credibility of the Election Commission and the faith of people in the electoral system. We have strong prima facie evidence of foul play.”
The commission also made it clear it did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties or candidates about alleged tempering.
“EC always had a firm conviction and complete satisfaction that EVMs could not be tampered with. Its faith on the machine has never wavered through the conduct of elections in the last many years including the nationwide general elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. To date, no one has been able to actually demonstrate that EVMs used by the Election Commission can be tampered with or manipulated,” said
the EC.