The battle for the ballot paper is gaining momentum. A group of 17 Opposition parties is planning to approach the Election Commission (EC) with a demand to reintroduce the ballot paper for the 2019 general election. Here’s why...
What is Opposition’s charge?
The likes of Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress, which are spearheading the drive to bring back the ballot paper feel there is a genuine fear that the Modi govt could tamper with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)s to manipulate the poll outcome. The BJP, however, said that the Opposition’s allegation was basically an attempt to cover up its own defeat in the polls.
EC reacts
EC said the replacement of defective EVMs and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) during actual polls is a normal process and does not vitiate the integrity or credibility of the poll process in any way
Experts’ take
Returning to the manual system would be a retrograde step. If there are concerns regarding electronic voting machines, they should be addressed by experts to find out whether the operators of EVMs at polling booths or EVMs themselves are at fault. It’s unfair to say the machines are not working well. The process of voting and counting will take a lot of time.
T S Krishnamurthy, former chief election commissioner
Moving towards EVMs is a transition towards the much-needed Electoral Reforms. Ballot papers are not only expensive and cumbersome but also have the potential for malpractice.
S A Hemanth Kumar, political analyst, Bengaluru
EVM stands for electronic violation of mandate and it’s time we got rid of them for free and fair elections. Many countries including Japan, US and Germany have already refused to use them due to possible scope of tampering within few minutes.
V K Sharma, Pol commentator, Ahmd
Ballot paper would be a misfit in this technology-driven era. EVMs are state-of the-art, efficient and time-saving. A machine-driven system makes it easy for all those employed in the election process and for voters.
Prof Dr S S Girishankar, Government Law College, Ernakulam
Both EVMs and paper ballots have been tampered with, in the past, so there is no security of a cent per cent system in place. Besides, paper is more insecure.
Abhay Deshpande, pol analyst
All about the EVMs
When did India start using EVMs? These were first used in 1982 in 50 polling stations in the byelection to Kerala’s Parur assembly seat. In 1998, it was used in 16 assembly seats in MP, Rajasthan and Delhi. The 2004 Lok Sabha election was conducted on EVMs.
How does the Indian EVM work? The control unit is key: it stores data and contains the programme that controls the EVM’s functioning. This programme is fused into a micro-chip that can neither be altered nor overwritten. After voting, the close button is pressed and the machine disabled so it can’t accept any new data. Votes are matched with the total votes polled as recorded in the booth register. India’s EVM is a standalone device that is not connected to any network.
Can the EVM be pre-programmed? To transfer votes to a particular candidate, it is necessary for the EVM’s programme to identify the favoured candidate’s serial number. Now, the order in which candidates appear on the ballot paper depends upon nominations filed and found valid – this cannot be predicted in advance before the list of contesting candidates is actually drawn up. So, highly improbable.
What is VVPAT? In 2010, the EC considered introducing the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail to enhance transparency. In this, a paper slip is generated which bears the name and symbol of the candidate for whom the elector has voted, thus enabling the voter to verify the vote.
How many countries use electronic voting?
As of now, 31 countries used or studied EVMs. Only 4 use it nationwide, 11 use EVMs in some parts. Three nations have discontinued it, while 11, which ran pilots, decided against it