An infallible utility

As the much-anticipated General Elections draw nearer, the debate around the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) has once again surfaced.

Ever since the Election Commission of India was constituted as per Article 324 of the Indian Constitution on January 25, 1950, it has been holding elections for both Parliamentary and State Assembly seats. Initially, the elections were paper-based. Counting of votes would involve manually counting each ballot paper, and adding to the candidates’ tally, which used to involve long hours and sometimes even stretched for days! Besides, the use of ballot boxes saw malpractices like booth capturing and ballot-box stuffing, which resulted in re-poll in many places. Not to mention that many votes went invalid while counting, as the voters failed to mark properly in the correct areas.

To overcome these issues, the use of EVMs was first mooted. The responsibility of devising and designing EVMs was thus given to Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, both Govt of India PSUs. For the first time, EVMs were experimentally used in 50 polling stations of the Parur Assembly Constituency of Kerala in 1982. Further, they were tried in certain bye-elections, and in 1988, the Parliament amended the Representation of the People Act 1951 and added a new Section 61A, permitting ECI to use EVMs for elections.

An EVM consists of two Units – a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit. Voting is done on the balloting unit, which has labelled buttons against candidate's name and symbol for voters to use. The control unit manages the ballot units, records voting totals, and shows the results on seven-segment LED displays. While the voter operates the balloting device in private, one of the polling booth officers operates the control unit. After verifying the voter's identity, the officer electronically triggers the voting apparatus to enable a fresh vote to be cast.

However, to quell the obvious doubts among the political circles regarding this new voting mechanism, an Electoral Reforms Committee (ERC) was formed in 1990, which comprised members from different national and state-level political parties, which in turn recommended the examination of EVMs by a Technical Expert Committee. The TEC, chaired by S Sampath, the then Chairman, Recruitment & Assessment Centre, DRDO, unanimously deemed EVMs to be technically sound, secure and transparent and recommended their use. Upon arrival of a general consensus, slowly and steadily, EVMs began to be used in select Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in State and General Elections from 1998 to 2000. In 2001, for the first time, EVMs were completely used for state elections of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal, thereafter being used in every State Assembly election since. The 2004 Lok Sabha Elections also saw the EVMs being used for the first time across the country in all the 543 Parliamentary Constituencies.

In 2010, some political parties requested the introduction of VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial) to increase transparency, after such a tool was first experimented in the USA. VVPAT is an additional unit attached to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), where a paper slip with the name and symbol of the candidate is generated (visible for around 7 seconds) when the voter puts his vote. The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, were amended in 2013 to allow ECI to use VVPATs along with EVMs. The VVPATs were thus first used full-fledged in the Bye-Election for the Noksen Assembly Constituency in Nagaland in 2013. After a meeting of all political parties in May 2017, VVPATs have since been used along with EVMs in all Parliamentary and Assembly Elections, with mandatory verification of VVPAT slips of randomly selected 01 Polling Station per Assembly Constituency.

Meanwhile, demands have been raised over time to increase the mandatory VVPAT slip counting ranging from 10 per cent to 100 per cent by various stakeholders. In 2019, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India upheld the integrity of EVMs. In pursuance of this direction and for the greater interest of all stakeholders, the ECI directed to conduct mandatory verification of VVPAT paper slips of randomly selected 05 polling stations (per Assembly constituency/segment) in all future General and Bye-Elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

While it may be reasonable for many to have doubts about the reliability of EVMs, it is crucial to understand the steps being taken to uphold their credibility. On the manufacturing and design front, ECI’s Status Paper on EVMs states that the software of EVMs is designed in-house by a select group of engineers of ECIL and BEL independently from each other. Checks and balances are in place to ensure that the source code is accessible to authorised personnel only. The software is vetted by the TEC and sealed by them. They are devoid of any internal wireless connection components, Internet interface, or associated hardware. The entire manufacturing process is subject to strict technical programming which includes the use of one-time programmable microcontrollers for writing machine code. This means the code could not be modified or read by any means. The programme is burnt into the chip at the PSU premises itself. The manufactured EVMs go through layers of tests both by the Quality Assurance Group (an independent group within PSU) and by a third-party testing agency, STQC.

Besides, stringent administrative measures are in place for handling of EVMs, to prevent any misuse or procedural lapse. Post supply to ECI, the EVMs are kept, transported and used under strict administrative and secure conditions. A First Level Checking (FLC) is done for all EVMs/VVPATs to be used before any election. A mock poll is done on a specified percentage of EVMs, wherein the VVPAT slips are counted and tallied with the electronic result. All machines deemed fit to be used are sealed by ‘Pink Paper Seal’ and, after obtaining signatures from political party representatives, are stored in the strong room.

Subsequently, the stored EVMs are randomised twice in the EVM Management System, once for allocating machines to the assembly constituencies, and second to individual polling stations within the constituencies. All of this is done in the presence of Central Observers and representatives of political parties, and the list of randomised EVMs to be used polling station-wise is shared with the political parties. The setting of the candidates’ names in the ballot papers of the EVMs is done in alphabetical order, first for candidates of National and State Recognised parties, followed by other State registered parties and then for independents. The sequence of names to be entered thus cannot be ascertained beforehand during manufacturing or FLC. The Ballot Unit is also sealed once the candidate setting is done and once again mock poll is done in the presence of the Returning Officer and political party representatives.

During poll day, a mock poll by casting votes in favour of each candidate is initially done in all polling stations by the presiding officer in the presence of agents of the political parties/candidates and a mock poll certificate is obtained. After voting, the Presiding Officer presses the ‘Close’ button on the CU in the presence of the Polling Agents. The EVM is sealed and the polling agents put their signatures on the seal, which can be checked for intactness just before counting. The transportation of EVMs from strong rooms to polling stations and back is done under adequate police security and the strong rooms with the polled EVMs are guarded by security forces round the clock in 3 layers with Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) guards guarding the inner ring. A candidate or party may depute agents to watch the guarded strong room containing the polled EVMs.

The storage and transportation of EVMs both during election and non-election period is strictly done as per specific ECI guidelines, which involves single entry warehouses with double-locks and their opening/closing in the presence of political parties’ representatives, movement in GPS-enabled containerised/sealed vehicles under full security, videography of transfer/receipt of EVMs, log-book having entry/exit details of authorised personnel, etc.

The combination of these technological security features with ECI-defined administrative safeguards ensures that EVMs are tamper-proof whether they are manufactured, stored, transported or used in the electoral process.

The use of EVMs, their reliability and speculations about fraud through the use of EVMs have been the subject of many lawsuits before state high courts and the Supreme Court of India. But these courts have held them to be reliable, credible and non-tamperable.

The ECI has maintained an independent Technical Expert Committee to help evaluate specific technical features, designs and performance improvement of EVMs, advise newer designs and examine them, and address concerns raised on tamperability.

Despite the criticism, there is a general approval of EVMs across the political spectrum. India has saved a lot of time and effort through the use of EVMs. It is not practical to return to paper voting in a country with such a large population. It’s best if we embrace it and use the power of voting as an informed citizen.

Views expressed are personal