‘EC should look into complaints of battery strength’

This is victory of democracy in the Union Territory, as voters’ participation was very high with almost nil incidences of violence.
Former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat
Former Chief Election Commissioner OP RawatFile Photo | PTI
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3 min read

Former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat says the ECI should look into the complaints registered about the battery strength of 99% in EVMs after the counting, as in cases of normal voting, there should not be more than 60-70% of charge in the device.

In an interview with Mukesh Ranjan, he, however, contended that in cases where the polling is not much, batteries can have the charging strength of 95 to 99%. Yet it is a matter of probe and the ECI should initiate one.

Excerpts:

How do you look at the conduct of the Assembly polls in J&K?

I’d say elections in J&K that took place after a long gap are quite encouraging. This is victory of democracy in the Union Territory, as voters’ participation was very high with almost nil incidences of violence.

According to you, who should be given credit for this encouraging trend?

I will give credit to the people/voters of the UT for this. However, for organising such a mammoth democratic exercise in such an efficient manner, the credit also goes to the field officials and the security forces, who conducted the polls at the booth level.

Congress says some of the EVMs showed 99% charge strength even after the conclusion of the counting?

First of all, we need to understand why batteries are used in EVMs. All the EVMs are standalone and to keep them so, we do not use plug-in power supply. If plug-in and wires are used to activate EVMs, doubts could be raised about them for being used for hacking. Even if using batteries is more costly, we continue to use them to keep the voting machine insulated from the external world.

I don’t understand how the level of charge in the battery can affect the vote count. I personally think that for the satisfaction of the complaining parties, the ECI should take some measures to investigate and do a random check.

In the event of normal (1,000 votes) voting with one machine, the charge-level should come down to 60-70%.

Though, I am not aware, the ECI must be seized of the matter. In cases where polling is very little, battery charge can remain at 95 or 96 or 99% level. It is a matter of investigation on a case-to-case basis.

Why do the EVMs still remain the target of the political parties?

It has a history dating back to the 2009 general election. It was for the first time that the losing party had targeted the EVMs. Despite the EC throwing up a challenge in 2017 to hack its machines, representatives of only two parties turned up. But they too claimed that they had not come to take up the challenge, but to learn more about the functioning of EVMs. I think the machine is the most silent opponent of the losing parties.

What are your thoughts on poll percentage differences shown by the EC within a few hours?

One needs to see the bigger picture. The ECI in the election time draws poll personnel from among the existing government servants. Different personnel have differing competence: there are those who have entered the government office with 33% passing marks. At the same time, there are meritorious personnel. We need to work with the average. While staff of some polling booths report correct data in time, others fail to do so. In that case, the ECI has to correct and deliver data in public domain.

What do you have to say on claims that the EVM rigging and polling booth capturing could be done by political parties?

Capturing polling booths is a thing of the past after the introduction of EVMs. For 1,000 votes, after capturing the booth, one has to stay within the premises for nearly 20,000 seconds, which means over 333 minutes and nearly 6 hours. In that situation, information can reach the higher-ups and corrective measures can be taken.

Even EVMs cannot be rigged. It is so secure that not a single vote can go anywhere.

Since the poll results are notified, what is the remedy available with the aggrieved parties?

The only option is to file a petition in a high court.

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