New EVMs May Lead to More Frauds in Indian Elections
New EVMs May Lead to More Frauds in Indian Elections
Since most politicians in opposition parties are illiterate, they cannot fully understand the manipulation that can be done with the EVMs. Therefore, after some weak verbal protests, they accept EVM election results in which mostly BJP wins.
By Rakesh Raman
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to introduce a new category of electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the stated objective of increasing the voting percentage in Indian elections.
According to ECI, the new EVMs will allow remote voting for migrant workers who are not able to reach the constituencies where they are registered to vote. Since most opposition political parties have been repeatedly complaining about the possibility of frauds on existing EVMs, the ECI has invited the political parties to demonstrate the new machines.
In a tweet issued on December 29, 2022, the ECI said that it is ready to pilot remote voting for domestic migrants, as it has developed a prototype of Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM).
It adds that the prototype RVM can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth and the ECI is expecting views from different political parties on legal, operational, administrative, and technological challenges of introducing new voting machines.
(1/n)ECI ready to pilot remote voting for domestic migrants; migrant voter need not travel back to home state to vote; ECI develops prototype Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM); invites political parties for demonstration of prototype RVM.
— Spokesperson ECI (@SpokespersonECI) December 29, 2022
The opposition parties complain that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi colludes with the ECI to manipulate EVMs and win elections deceptively.
But the ECI – which is completely controlled by the Modi government – ignores the opposition complaints and holds elections on EVMs and mostly BJP wins. And the defeated opposition parties willy-nilly accept the election results and wait for the next elections.
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The opposition party Congress complained about the EVM frauds even in the recent elections. When Congress was defeated by the BJP in the Gujarat election in December 2022, a Congress leader Digvijay Singh blamed the fraudulent use of EVMs. But he did not reveal any plan to stop the EVM manipulation.
Simultaneously, a Congress spokesman Pawan Khera held a comprehensive briefing to explain how EVMs were manipulated by the BJP of PM Modi to win the Gujarat election. But he too did not discuss any specific strategy to combat the alleged EVM fraud by BJP in elections.
Congress complains that EVMs are not safe even when used with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) option. It is also observed that when EVMs malfunction, they vote only in favor of Modi’s BJP which runs with Lotus election symbol.
Obviously, BJP will always oppose paper ballots and any investigation into the misuse of EVMs. And it goes without saying that the Election Commission – which is a toothless outfit – will always obey Modi.
However, top tech experts believe that it is very easy to tamper with EVMs in India and change the election results fraudulently in favor of certain candidates.
In their study on EVMs in India, security researchers from India, the United States, and the Netherlands argue that “contrary to claims by Indian election authorities, these paperless electronic voting systems suffer from significant vulnerabilities.”
The researchers also have found that even brief access to the machines could allow dishonest election insiders or other criminals to alter election results. They have developed a video to demonstrate their claims.
Tech experts observe that besides other manipulations, the chip used in the EVMs is not of the OTP (One Time Programmable) category. That means, it can be programmed in each EVM to change the vote count in favor of a particular candidate.
Since opposition parties have been raising the EVM vulnerability issues repeatedly, now it is believed that the BJP manipulates EVMs in some crucial state elections and Lok Sabha elections in which Modi himself contests.
Since most politicians in opposition parties are illiterate, they cannot fully understand the manipulation that can be done with the EVMs. Therefore, after some weak verbal protests, they accept EVM election results in which mostly BJP wins.
Now, with the introduction of new EVMs that the ECI has proposed, it will become extremely difficult for opposition parties to win elections and prove the vulnerability of the new machines.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the 2024 election.
