This assembly polls, photos of candidates to find place on  EVMs in Karnataka

BENGALURU: The Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, has announced that the photograph of candidates contesting the upcoming Assembly election will be displayed next to their names on the electronic voting machines (EVMs). This decision was announced on Monday during a workshop on EVMs and VVPAT system for the media ahead of the upcoming polls. The move, according to officials, is to avoid confusion among the voters on candidates with same names contesting the polls.

V Raghavendra, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, who is also national-level master trainer, told reporters that voters in this election can see the photo of the candidates on the EVMs (ballot machine) along with their serial number, name and party symbol.Though this system has been in use elsewhere since 2016, it will be implemented for the first time in the state this year. However,  the VVPAT system that displays the symbol of the party the voter selects on a small screen will not show the photo. Only the serial number, symbol and party name will be printed on a piece of  paper. One can see it on the machine for seven seconds and then the slip lands in a drop box. Later, these slips are counted from random polling booths to verify the number of voters voted in a ballot  machine, he added. 

 “The EVMs that we will be using are M3 model which can have names of 64 contestants,” he  said.
Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said the state will be for the first time using VVPAT system in the ensuing polls.There are doubts and rumours regarding tampering of EVMs and VVPATs in the social media and WhatsApp. One should not believe them, he said. “The specially designed micro-chip is programmable once. The software code once written cannot be re-written or  changed. These machines are a standalone machines and do not have any Internet or Bluetooth links. There is no question of tampering, ‘’ he added.

If you don’t prove,  you can be jailed
CEO Sanjiv Kumar said the EVMs and VVPATs are foolproof and cannot be tampered. “Through VVPATs one can see to whom they have voted for. If the voters still feel it is being tampered, they can submit form 49MA under the Conduct of Election Rules to the Returning Officer. “Then, along with  various party members and officers, the complainant will be asked to use the EVM. If his complaint is found to be false, he or she can be sent to jail  for six months or pay a penalty of D1,000 or both,’’ he said.