German Lawmakers Test the Functioning of EVMs Used in Indian Elections
German Lawmakers Test the Functioning of EVMs Used in Indian Elections
Most EVM frauds happen under the garb of using technology in elections. Since almost all Indian political leaders are illiterate or semi-literate, they accept the EVM results after some weak protests.
How does EVM work in India?
Issues with EVMs
Keywords: Elections on electronic voting machines, EVM security, EVM in elections, EVM complaints in Indian elections
By Rakesh Raman
A German delegation led by Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, met India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi today (December 6).
The German Foreign Minister was accompanied by four Members of Parliament namely Ms. Agnieszka Brugger, Mr. Thomas Erndl, Mr. Ulrich Lechte, Mr. Andreas Larem, along with Dr. Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India and other officers from her Foreign Office.
Speaking on the occasion, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the idea of democracy is deeply rooted in India’s historical context and traditions. Giving an overview of the magnitude of Indian elections, he informed the German delegation of the detailed exercise that the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts for over 950 million voters across 1.1 million polling stations.
According to an ECI statement, the German Foreign Minister was informed about the extensive use of technology by ECI in the conduct of elections broadly under three verticals of voters’ participation, political parties/candidates, and election machinery logistics.
H.E. Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany visits @ECISVEEP
German delegation observes ECI’s rigorous protocols and security features in EVM-VVPAT usage
Read here: https://t.co/VJy6w7yRCu pic.twitter.com/8JoY4OT4Es
— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 6, 2022
ROLE OF EVMs
While there are serious concerns in India over the vulnerability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the German minister personally cast a vote through an EVM during a demonstration of EVM-VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) functioning organized by ECI for the delegation.
As voters have hardly any role in Indian elections, a number of external factors influence the election results and determine the victory or defeat of a candidate.
It is largely believed that the selective manipulation of EVMs is the main factor that usually helps the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi win elections.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, there were multiple complaints of a large-scale manipulation of EVMs that happened to help BJP win election and form the government under PM Modi.
Many opposition parties keep raising the issue of vulnerability of EVMs and even court cases have been filed to get the EVM manipulation stopped. Since the courts and the election authorities cannot dare to take any decision that may displease PM Modi, the EVMs continue to help BJP in crucial elections.
Most EVM frauds happen under the garb of using technology in elections. Since almost all Indian political leaders are illiterate or semi-literate, they accept the EVM results after some weak protests.
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.
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.
