Quietening those who cast doubts on EVMs

Interestingly, the issue of EVMs has been challenged 41 times in courts, including the very first challenge by the BJP which learnt its lessons, but other parties refuse to do so.
Image used for representatioanal purpose.
Image used for representatioanal purpose.Picture credits: X.com
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The recent Lok Sabha elections marked the largest democratic exercise in human history. Over 642 million out of the 969 million registered voters cast their ballots. It is a matter of great pride for all Indians that democracy, described as our national ideology, has permeated deep into society. While the voter turnout percentage was slightly lower than in the previous election, these hustings still recorded the highest number of votes ever cast—a rise of over 40 million from 2019.

Election Commission of India (ECI), an independent constitutional authority, is responsible for administering our polling process. Indian elections represent a large-scale logistical undertaking without precedent. The total number of registered voters in our country far exceeds that of the combined registered voters in the next five largest democracies. To ensure every registered voter, even from the most remote terrain, could cast their vote without hindrance, over 1 million polling stations were set up. Over 1.05 crore polling staff, 30 lakh security personnel and 55 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) were deployed.

Electronic voting significantly improved the efficiency, transparency and security of poll processes. The ECI proposed the idea of EVMs as early as 1977. Along with introduction of Section 61A to Representation of the People Act, 1951, several amendments were made to the Act and Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 for smooth usage of EVMs and voter-verifiable paper audit trails.

In 1980, the government tasked Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India with developing these machines. Continuous improvements have been made to ensure security. The first EVMs were used in a bypoll in the North Paravur assembly constituency in Kerala in 1982. After multiple trials, EVMs were used nationwide for the first time in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

In that election, the alliance led by Congress, which later became the UPA, defeated the incumbent NDA government led by the BJP. Since the introduction of EVMs, instances of electoral fraud and human errors have significantly reduced, along with malpractices like booth capturing and ballot stuffing, previously common in many parts.

For many years, the Congress and a few others accused EVMs whenever they have lost an election, but enthusiastically found them credible whenever they won. Interestingly, the issue of EVMs has been challenged 41 times in courts, including the very first challenge by the BJP which learnt its lessons, but other parties refuse to do so.

Elon Musk’s comment on the possibility of EVMs being hacked by humans or AI, in response to a report on alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico, has once again caused a stir among certain groups. This presents an excellent opportunity for India to highlight one of its most successful indigenous innovations.

At present, Namibia, Nepal, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela, besides the US, use some form of electronic voting. Several European countries, including Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, conducted limited pilots to test EVMs. However, due to court orders and concerns such as the need for technical knowledge among voters, vulnerability to hacking, and the absence of a paper trail, they discontinued their use.

The US uses EVMs, but lacks a standardised version. Instead, they employ a combination of optical scan systems and direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting systems, resulting in a variety of technologies and procedures. The Philippines uses precinct count optical scan machines, which scan paper ballots and electronically tally the votes. Brazil uses DRE machines, where votes are recorded directly into electronic memory. All of these countries employ various measures such as operating without network connectivity during voting, protecting election data transmission networks with firewalls, securing hardware, and implementing end-to-end encryption.

Indian EVMs are an indigenous innovation different from systems across the world. Each unit consists of a control unit housing a microcontroller and an electronic circuitry, which does not display any candidate or party information and remains under the supervision of the presiding officer. The balloting unit, through which voters interact, is kept separate and connected to the control unit with a cable. There are more than 275 safety protocols that make Indian EVMs tamper-proof. There is no internet port, so there are no means to send or receive WiFi, Bluetooth or other wireless signals. The EVM chip is writable only once—once encrypted, the chip cannot be overwritten. There are rigorous standard operating practices in place for transportation and storage.

So, Indian EVMs are unique in their simplicity and scalability. They stand as marvels of innovation akin to India’s significant digital public infrastructure achievements, such as the widely adopted UPI payment system and the CoWIN platform. These innovations underscore India’s capability to develop and deploy advanced technological solutions at scale that prioritise security and efficiency in critical national processes.

As PM Modi rightly said, India’s poll results are a victory for the democratic world, showcasing resilience, peaceful conduct of elections and smooth transfer of power. They have ascertained the credibility of EVMs for those who had doubts. They have also cemented India’s democratic credentials and effectively silenced accusations.

(Views are personal)

Meenakshi Lekhi | Former Union Minister of State for  External Affairs and Culture; MP from New Delhi, 2014-24

Anil K Antony | National Secretary and National Spokesperson, BJP

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