Vote on EVMs is still in the balance
DEBATE ABOUT RETURN TO PAPER BALLOTS PICKS UP WITH OPPOSITION ALLEGING WIDESPREAD MACHINE TAMPERING
Different trends can have different outcomes depending on regions. While some countries, after experimenting with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for many years, have decided not to continue with the trend and reverted to paper ballots, others are showing increasing interest in using electronic voting technologies.
The issue seems to have come full circle in India where EVMs manufactured in 1989-90 were first used in the November 1998 elections. This was done on an experimental basis in 16 assembly constituencies in the states of Madhya Pradesh (5), Rajasthan (5) and Delhi (6). It was then felt that EVMs were a step in the right direction. The 2004 Lok Sabha elections were conducted using EVMs.
But a few months ago, prominent political parties alleged that EVMs had been tampered with ahead of polls and demanded the reintroduction of the ballot paper voting system.
The call to abandon EVMs was not new. In 2009, when the Congress party was doing well in elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Lal Krishna Advani voiced concerns about the reliability of the machines after his party’s electoral defeat. Many political parties also supported the demand to revert to paper ballots.
However, the Election Commission, citing a study by technical experts that EVMs cannot be hacked, rejected the demand.
The issue made a comeback last year after the results of assembly elections held in five states. By now, the tables had turned. With the BJP in power, this time the call for paper ballots came from the other side of the political spectrum.
The Congress spoke about “apprehensions among political parties and the people” over the misuse of EVMs and urged the EC to “revert to the old practice of using ballot papers as most major democracies have done.” The Aam Aadmi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party supported the move.
The reliability of EVMs came under scrutiny yet again during the Uttar Pradesh civic polls in November last, following reports that several voting machines were recording votes only for the BJP, irrespective of the buttons pressed.
Amidst the allegations, the BJP said it was open to discussions on reverting to paper ballots, if there was consensus among other parties on the matter.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav stated, “The decision to shift from paper ballots to EVMs was taken because of a larger consensus. Today, if every party thinks we should return to paper ballots again, we can consider.”
However, dispelling doubts about security issues surrounding EVMs, former Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi reiterated that the machines are tamper-proof.
Zaidi told Gulf News, “The allegations [of tampering] have been examined in petitions by various courts, including the Supreme Court, only to be rejected by them. The EC, in 2009 and 2017, had asked political parties, activists and individuals to demonstrate tampering of EVMs before the commission.
But, on both occasions, they either backed out or made feeble and unsuccessful attempts. Last year, only the Nationalist Congress Party and Communist Party of India-Marxist came forward — only to have better understanding of machines.”
The EC has consistently defended the voting machines. In 2010, with the help of independent technical experts, it considered introducing the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) to enhance transparency.
Under this system, a paper slip is generated bearing the name and symbol of the candidate for whom the elector has voted. In June 2014, the EC advocated using the VVPAT system at every polling station for the 2019 general elections.
EVMs may have reduced the manpower and paper needed to hold elections, but people with technical knowhow say that it would be inaccurate to claim that voting machines are completely tamperproof.
Scientist and activist Gautam Raza contends: “There is no machine in the world that is impenetrable. An EVM can be manipulated by a remote device.”
On the electoral body’s contention that incidents of booth capturing have been rare since the advent of EVMs, Raza, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate, added, “But then tampering with a machine is akin to booth capturing. This kind of booth capturing does not require muscle power. It’s invisible and, therefore, more dangerous.”