HYDERABAD: Contrary to various allegations of EVM tampering by political parties, the chief architect of the modern voting machine P Sudhakar, reiterated on Tuesday, that it was impossible to hack into the machine and that it has an anti-tampering mechanism built into its design.
Sudhakar, who is the former CMD of Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) which manufactures EVMs for the country, confirms that it is not possible to hack EVMs because it does not have any connectivity to the Internet and thus, it is not possible to hijack them with any remote devices.
Sudhakar said that EVMs, VVPATs and Control Units are encrypted with the ‘strongest algorithm’. Describing how the algorithm functions, Sudhakar said that when someone tries to tamper an EVM, the ‘One Time Program’ is updated, making the EVM un-operational.
The voting information is also not stored in a single memory chip but is spread across the entire control unit, making it difficult for anyone to tamper with. When asked the reason behind differences in the delay of display systems in VVPAT machines, Sudhakar refused to answer.
“EVMs have unique serial numbers and laser marks on the rear side of each unit, which are linked with the electronic circuit board inside the machines,” said Sudhakar while adding that serial numbers are displayed every time the machine is switched on. The database of these numbers is securely maintained, he said.