Electronic Voting Machine: Here's all you wanted to know about India's EVMs

In the wake of several political parties questioning whether electronic voting machines are tamper-proof, the Election Commission now plans to introduce an advanced version of EVM ahead of the 2019 General Elections.

The controversy surrounding the electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering was reignited after the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party raised the issue with the Election Commission recently.

Ahead of the crucial MCD election in the Capital, both the parties sought scrapping of the EVMs after a video showed that the  (VVPAT) machine used during a trial in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, dispensed slips with the BJP's poll symbol.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Saleena Singh, however, denied the reports on Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine dispensing BJP slips.

The Election Commission has now sought a detailed report from the poll authorities in Bhind. Besides, the Election Commission has now announced that it would replace over 9 lakh EVMs ahead of the 2019 General Elections with the more advanced M3 machines, which reportedly stop operating when someone tries to tamper with them.

WHAT IS AN EVM AND HOW EXACTLY DOES IT WORK?

EVMs or electronic voting machines provide the voter with a button for each choice which is connected by a cable to an electronic ballot box.

An EVM consists of two units--control unit and balloting unit--and these two are connected by a five-meter cable. When a voter presses a button against the candidate he/she wishes to vote for, the machine locks itself.

This EVM can be opened only with a new ballot number. This way, EVMs ensure that one person gets to vote only once.

WHY IS INDIA USING EVMs?

Electronic voting machines have been in use in India since 1999. Using EVMs means doing away with paper ballots, and in turn, saving millions of trees from being cut.

It makes the entire process of voting simpler--a click on the button and your vote is registered.

EVMs, in the long-run, have turned out to be cost-effective as well. Although the initial cost of an EVM is between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000, the machine, on an average, lasts for 15 years.

These machines don't require electricity and run on batteries. At the same time, the EVMs are lighter and portable compared to the huge ballot boxes.

And most importantly, EVMs have made the vote-counting process much faster, delivering results in hours as against manual counting of votes which could take days.

QUESTIONS RAISED ON EVMs

As early as 2009, BJP's veteran leader L K Advani had raised doubts about the security features of electronic voting machines. 

It was Subramanian Swamy who filed a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the use of EVMs in its current form. The court, while saying that EVMs are not tamper-proof, did not issue any direction to the Election Commission.

Subramanian Swamy then approached the Supreme Court which in October 2013 ruled that the Election Commission would use Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) linked to EVMs in a phased manner and the full implementation should be achieved by 2019.

VVPAT COMES INTO THE PICTURE

After concerns were raised on whether EVMs are tamper-proof, the Election Commission appointed a committee to look into the possibility of linking the EVMs to a paper trail machine to show voters a slip with the party symbol for which they have voted. As a result, voters can immediately check if their vote is cast for the person/party of their choice.

The Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was first used in 2013 in Nagaland's Noksen Assembly constituency.

In the recently concluded Assembly elections, the Election Commission used VVPAT system in all the constituencies of Goa. The voter-trail system was used in just a handful of constituencies in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab.

QUESTIONS RAISED ON EVMs, YET AGAIN

After the Assembly Election results were declared last month, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati alleged the EVMs were manipulated .

"The EVM machines were manipulated and no matter which button was pushed, the vote went to the BJP", Mayawati said after the BJP registered a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and formed the government in the state after 15 years.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party approached the Election Commission over alleged EVM tampering in Punjab. Kejriwal's AAP had demanded that slips generated by the VVPAT machines be matched with the election results.

While the Election Commission asked Arvind Kejriwal to rather introspect on his party's performance in the state, the recent VVPAT controversy in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, prompted the EC to seek a report.

ADVANCED M3 EVMs TO BE INTRODUCED

With various political parties questioning if EVMs are tamper-proof, the Election Commission is likely to introduce an advanced version of the EVM by the end of 2018.

The Election Commission is set to replace more than 9 lakh EVMs that were purchased before 2006 and use the new voting machines in the 2019 General Elections.

The new M3 EVMs will have a Public Key Interface (PKI)-based mutual authentication between various EVM units for identifying a genuine unit, of authorised manufacturer, in the field to ensure that only genuine EVMs can be used for communication within the network.

These EVMs, although technologically more advanced than the current EVMs, will be same in terms of operation.

(Source: Agencies, Election Commission of India, Wikipedia)