The Electronic Voting Machines are not just a necessity but an absolute must for elections in India. Electronic Voting Machines were first tested in Kerala in May 1982 in a by-election to Paravur Assembly constituency at 50 polling booths. This happened when late Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country. Paravur Assembly constituency also has its own history. The Congress party has won this seat continuously for five times since 1960 but after the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines in 1982, Congress party lost this seat.
The Congress party is opposing Electronic Voting Machines on a large scale. The Congress party says that it does not trust Electronic Voting Machines and hence it should go back to ballot paper elections. The Congress party argues that it did not get as many votes as its family members in those booths in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections.
For this, we will have to look at the result of Modakurichi seat in the 1996 Tamil Nadu assembly elections where 1033 candidates had filed nominations. In that election, 88 candidates did not get a single vote, that is, they did not even vote for themselves. There were 158 candidates who got only one vote. The number of candidates on this seat was 1088, out of which 42 nominations were cancelled and 13 withdrew their names. This seat is in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.
The use of EVMs has brought revolutionary changes in Indian politics. This has made the voting process much easier and smoother. Earlier, voters had to stand in long queues for hours to vote. In the summer, standing in long queues for hours to vote was especially challenging for women. It is difficult for women to take out so much time from household chores, taking care of small children and other works and stand in long queues. It was a difficult situation for sick and unhealthy people to stand in the voting queue.
But EVM solved all these problems in one go. Now the voting process is done in just a few minutes. In this, women who have the responsibility of taking care of the house, including other unhealthy people, easily participate in the voting process.
After the use of EVM, improvement is also being seen in the electoral process. Booth capturing and election violence are now a thing of the past. Before the use of EVM in the 90s, a few days were left after the last phase of the election in the electoral process so that due to the cancellation of voting at some centers due to election violence, the election counting could be done only after the election.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel had appealed to his supporters to enroll in large numbers so that EVMs are not used in the electoral process and elections can be held only with ballot papers. Congress party knows that due to voting through EVM, people participate in voting on a large scale and Congress loses badly in these elections. At present, an EVM can have a maximum of 383 names and 384 names including NOTA. Therefore, if there are 384 or more candidates, then the election can be done only through ballot papers.
Congress party formed the government only after the voting process was done through EVM in two consecutive Lok Sabha elections 2004 and 2009. Even in 2009, the Congress party’s 61 seats increased to 206 as compared to the previous election.
Congress party forms the government by defeating BJP in the 2022 assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh. In this election, the Congress party got only 38000 more votes than BJP in the entire state. Congress party has succeeded in forming the government in the states of Karnataka and Telangana with absolute majority in the elections conducted through EVM. In Kerala, the CPI(M) has been forming the government with full majority for two consecutive times by using EVMs. In big states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, DMK and Mamata Banerjee are forming the government with clear majority. After the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, assembly elections were held in three states and one union territory and in these, the Congress Party’s ally National Conference in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Congress Party’s ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand have formed the government with a good majority. The performance of the Congress Party in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand Assembly elections has been very weak. Does the Congress Party want to question the victory of its allies by raising questions on EVMs? Not only this, but on the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra has won the election by a bigger margin than Rahul Gandhi. After a poor performance in two consecutive Lok Sabha elections, the Congress Party performed better than expected this time after the use of EVMs and won the post of Leader of the Opposition by winning 99 seats.
There is a high possibility of rigging in voting through ballot paper. Even Dr. Ambedkar was not untouched by this. After Dr Ambedkar lost the 1952 general elections in North Mumbai, allegations of electoral malpractice were leveled. Allegations surfaced that leftist groups led by Comrade Shripad Amrit Dange ran a fraudulent campaign to weaken Dr. Ambedkar’s electoral prospects. After more than 78 thousand votes were cancelled, Dr. Ambedkar lost the election by just 14000 votes. Dr. Ambedkar also filed a case in the court challenging the integrity of the electoral process and alleging false propaganda against him. With the use of EVMs, the electoral process becomes easier, and the results are immediate. It becomes easier for the polling officers to do their work.
After the 2008 delimitation, it has been observed that the voting percentage has increased on a large scale in Muslim dominated seats. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat of Assam has witnessed the highest voting. In 2014, this seat witnessed 88.36% voting, in 2019 90.66 per cent and in 2024 92.08 per cent voting. The Congress party wants to reduce voting in these Muslim dominated seats by opposing EVMs. Removing EVMs is like a guarantee of low voting in these seats.
Those opposing EVMs should also not forget that India is the world’s largest democracy. Here, the counting process of votes can take weeks, given the number of voters there are now. The voting and counting process would be very difficult if ballot papers are used.
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