EVM Challenge to begin from June 3; EC says voting machines cannot be tampered
EC demonstrates working of EVMs, VVPATs today. Follow latest updates here.
Amid allegations of tampering, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday said that the EVM challenge will start from June 3, saying voting machines cannot be tampered with or hacked.
The ECI demonstrated the working of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail System (VVPATs), while brushing aside tampering allegations.
Addressing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, "ECI throws opens the challenge to all national and state political parties from 3 June onward. The EVM Challenge is open to national and state parties. They can nominate 3 authorised persons and will need to confirm their interest by 5 pm on 26 May," said Zaidi.
Stating that people who questioned the reliability of EVMs have not yet submitted any proof or credible material to support their claims, Zaidi added, "No manipulation of EVMs is possible. Our EVMs have strong technological features and are tamper-proof. They are stand-alone machines which cannot be connected to the internet or any network at any point of time during polling."
The Election Commission also said that election results cannot be altered by activating a Trojan Horse through a sequence of key presses.
The EC's remark came weeks after the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) conducted a live demo in the Delhi assembly trying to demonstrate how EVMs can be tampered.
The Election Commission also said that all future elections will be held with VVPATs along with EVMs across polling stations, to bring in transparency.
Zaidi also noted that the ECI would leave no stone unturned in preserving the purity, integrity and credibility of the electoral democracy of our country. "ECI will never ever allow the faith of the people in the integrity of the election process to be shaken," the ECI said.
A day ago, the Election Commission told a parliamentary panel that EVMs are tamper-proof and the use of paper trail will further enhance the confidence of the voters in the poll process.
At the all-party meet, most of the parties said future elections should be held using EVMs provided they are attached to paper trail machines.
There were, however, some parties whose representatives said their faith in the machines has eroded and the EC should revert to the old ballot paper system.
While the BJP, CPI, CPI (M), AIADMK, DMK, NCP and JD(U) clearly supported the use of EVMs, provided paper trail machines are attached to it, BSP, AAP, Trinamool Congress said the paper ballot system was better and more transparent.
The BSP and the AAP had alleged that the machines used in the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab were tampered with to favour the BJP.
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EC demonstrates working of EVMs, VVPATs today. Follow latest updates here.
Common Procedure for EVM Challenge
Election commission's statement on EVM Challenge
EVM Challenge to begin from June 3. Challenge open to national and state parties. They can nominate 3 authorised persons and will need to confirm their interest by 5:00 pm on May 26.
Election Commission on EVMs
# EVMs are produced indigenously by 2 PSUs: Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.
# Software Program Code is written in-house by these two companies and not outsourced
# Election Commission of India EVMs are fully different from any of the EVMs used internationally either for direct recording or for internet voting.
# Indian EVMs are truly unique compared to the e-voting machines used in other parts of the world
# ECI EVMs are far superior to any EVMs used worldwide
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on EVM tampering
# ECI-EVMs are not hackable, are stand-alone machines. They are not connected to internet or any network at any point of time during polling.
# Manipulation at manufacturing stage is ruled out as there is very stringent security protocol regarding the security of software.
# EVMs cannot be physically tampered with nor their components be changed without anyone noticing.
# Results cannot be altered by activating a Trojan Horse through a sequence of key presses
# Software Program Code is written in-house by these two companies and not outsourced
# Contrary to misinformation spread and alleged by some, ECI does not use any EVMs produced abroad
Election Commission of India addresses media
# EC has set ever-higher standards of efficient and professional conduct of Elections.
# EC is globally acknowledged as a 'Gold Standard' in conduct of free & fair elections with integrity.
# All future elections will be held with VVPAT along with EVMs across polling stations.
# A group of 13 political parties met the Commission on 10 April, 2017 and expressed certain reservations about the use of EVMs. Some political parties also raised queries about incidents relating to VVPATs used on 31/3/17 during demonstration at Bhind & Dholpu. To understand the concerns of political parties, Commission convened an all-party meeting on 12th May.
# The Commission stated before political parties that all future elections will be held with VVPATs.
# ECI has introduced EVM for recording, storing an counting of votes in transparent, credible and secure manner.
# ECI has also taken into account suggestions made by various political parties regarding counting of VVPAT slips.
# The Commission will count VVPAT slips up to a definite percentage, which will be determined by the Commission.
# Over last 20 years, ECI has successfully conducted 107 State Assembly elections and 3 Lok Sabha elections using EVM.