BENGALURU: For the first time since 1982, when Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were first introduced in India, Karnataka has broken ranks with the rest of the country. The state government has banned EVMs in local body elections, reverting to paper ballots, which adds a twist to the national debate on election integrity.
“EVMs have lost their credibility,” declared Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, pointing to the Maharashtra polls, where an abnormally high number of votes were reportedly cast in the final hour. Patil accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of growing “thick-skinned and arrogant,” saying democracy could not afford to be seen as compromised.
The decision means that in the upcoming Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat polls, nearly 60 per cent of Karnataka’s voters -- excluding urban centres -- will mark ballots by hand. It is the first large-scale experiment with paper voting in India in decades, and comes at a time when mistrust of EVMs is already high, he told TNIE.
Karnataka’s move mirrors what has happened in several western democracies. Countries like Germany, The Netherlands and Ireland have done away from electronic voting, citing transparency concerns. India, the world’s largest democracy and once a pioneer in electronic voting, now finds one of its politically influential states echoing that same caution.
Election transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak says the Karnataka cabinet’s move could mark the first practical step toward the ‘EVM Hatao’ demand by opposition parties. He warns of old ghosts: “Unless the State Election Commission prevents ballot stuffing and booth capturing, which marked Indian elections before EVMs, the switch may simply replace one mistrust with another.”
Retired IAS officer MG Devasahayam, a leading voice in the anti-EVM campaign, hailed Karnataka’s decision. “We warned the government ahead of the 2024 elections. They ignored us. Now at least for local polls, the people will get transparency. But this must extend to all elections if voter trust is to be restored.”
The ECI insists that EVMs are secure, have no connectivity, and are backed by the VVPAT paper trail. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld their credibility, but suspicions refuse to die. Social media plays out stories of ‘vote chori’ and manipulation of votes from various places. Karnataka’s decision could have a ripple effect.