Donald Trump, who lost the previous presidential election in the year 2020, made a tremendous comeback in the 2024 US presidential election last month. When Trump lost to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, he claimed that there was fraud in the voting process and refused to recognise the outcome. Later, Trump’s followers stormed the world’s oldest democracy’s capitol building, a spectacle that was broadcast to the entire globe. In contrast, Trump said absolutely nothing about the election process after winning the 2024 election. It is common for leaders to criticise the entire election process and place the blame elsewhere when the results don’t match their expectations. In general, the general public and followers of the leaders have a great deal of faith in them. However, it becomes extremely dangerous in a democracy when a leader fabricates a story and promotes misleading information. False narratives have the power to damage democracy by undermining public trust in democracy and democratic processes.
A similar kind of thing is happening after the Maharashtra assembly elections. Congress and its allies are blaming EVMs for their poorest-ever performance in the state. On the other hand, they have accepted their victory in the Jharkhand assembly elections, which were also conducted on EVMs along with Maharashtra. These kinds of double standards of political parties confuse the people and normalise the misinformation. Interestingly, it was during Congress rule that India shifted from the ballot paper system to the EVM. EVMs were used first time in Parur assembly elections in Kerala, in the year 1982. Section 61A was inserted in the year 1989 in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 that gave legal backing to use of EVMs. Congress brought this reform and Rajeev Gandhi was the prime minister of India at that time. EVMs are being used nationwide since 2004 for general elections of Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and Congress got a majority and formed the governments in the centre in the years 2004 and 2009.
In an era of digital communication technology and tools like deepfakes, people generally believe false information and fake videos without verifying them. So, it becomes imperative to demystify the truth. This article attempts to explain the details of the manufacturing of EVMs, their use in the election process, how elections are carried out using EVMs, and what protocols are followed for fair and free elections.
Issues with voting on ballot papers
Before discussing EVMs, let’s see why India shifted from ballot papers to EVMs. India has about 140 crore Population out of that about 96 crores are registered voters while countries like USA has very low registered voters compare to India. For example, USA with population of 34 crores has 24 Crore eligible voters, which is four times less than Indian figures. If India switches elections on ballot paper again, it will not only take many days for counting but will also make the whole election process complicated. There are also several issues with using ballot papers, which is not the case with the EVMs. In the ballot paper system, many votes become invalid due to improper marking on paper by the voters. Ballot boxes can also be filled with fake voting by capturing the booth, and there is the issue of voting with pre-marked ballot papers. Manual counting of votes is prone to errors and mischief and takes a lot of days. Further, huge numbers of trees are required to be cut for making ballot papers, for example. It is estimated that if the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were conducted on ballot papers, it would have required about 2 lac trees to be cut for making the ballot papers, which is indeed not environmentally sustainable.
Advantages Of Using EVMs For Voting
First, as voting is done by pressing a button, there is no invalid vote as in the paper ballot system. Second, booth capturing has been eliminated by technology used in EVMs and administrative procedures, such that capturing booths is not worthwhile even if attempted. The EVM voting system does not permit more than 4 votes per minute under any circumstances. Third, it ensures quick, error-free and mischief-free counting of votes. Fourth, voters are instantly able to verify that their vote has been cast correctly by verifying the VVPAT’s printed slip. Fifth, there is a CLOSE button on EVM. Once pressed, there is no possibility of voting at the close of the poll. And last, the process through EVM is swift and it lowers the strain on personnel working in the electoral process.
Manufacturing Process and Functioning of EVM
EVM has three components. Ballot unit (Voter presses button on it), VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail—serial number, name, and symbol of candidate are printed on it after pressing button on ballot unit) Control Unit (under control of Polling Officer; it controls the ballot unit and VVPAT).
EVMs are not imported but indigenously designed and manufactured by two public sector undertakings (PSUs), namely Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), under the guidance of the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) constituted by the Election Commission of India. Non-involvement of private companies ensures the confidentiality of the manufacturing process.
EVMs are standalone machines, means they operate independently without any machinery or program. The machine is embedded with firmware and not with software. Firmware is a form of microcode or instructions embedded into hardware devices to help them operate effectively. Firmware memory is usually inaccessible and never gets changed. A calculator is an example of a device containing firmware. Similarly, in the case of EVMs, after loading firmware, the microcontrollers are one-time programmed (OTP). It is never changed and eliminates any programmability subsequently.
Software, on the other hand, is installed onto a device and used for interaction, such as browsing the internet, computing, and running applications. Software usually runs on the top of operating systems. It is upgradable or updatable, software memory is usually accessible and designed for user interactions. So here we must understand the difference that since EVMs are based on firmware and one-time programmed, no one can change original codes. Second, it uses no frequency, so it cannot be accessed using any frequency, Internet, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi and therefore cannot be hacked from outside. EVMs also use power through battery and not through direct electricity connections to facilitate elections in remote areas where electricity has not been reached yet and to avoid any scrupulous allegations of hacking through connections with wired cables. One-time programs eliminate any inner intervention to machines, while standalone nature and firmware eliminate outer interventions using any radio frequency. Furthermore, these EVMs are manufactured under a four-layered secure manufacturing process (SME). Out of a 4-layered secure manufacturing process, the microcontrollers are ported in the L3 area, where only designated engineers are authorised access through access cards and biometric scans. No external agency, either indigenous or foreign, is involved in loading the firmware program in microcontrollers.
Understanding the complete election process through EVMs
EVMs are sent four to six months in advance to a poll-bound state by the election commission. These EVMs are stored under the custody of the district electoral officer (DEO), i.e., the district collector of the concerned district. It must be noted that for greater transparency, stakeholders like members of national and state-level recognised parties are involved at every stage in this process, i.e., from the arrival of EVMs to post-poll results.
After the arrival of EVMs in the district, during the non-election period till the finalisation of the list of the contesting candidates, EVM-VVPAT warehouses are opened/closed (for any purpose like the movement of EVMs, quarterly inspection, etc.) in the presence of the representatives of national and state-recognised political parties. With the finalisation of the list of the contesting candidates, candidates and their representatives are involved in the opening and closing of the EVM-VVPAT warehouses/strong rooms, and the opening and closing of the EVM warehouses/strong rooms is done under videography. In this way it ensures involvement of stakeholders at every stage.
First Level Checking (FLC) of EVMs and VVPATs is conducted before every election by the authorised engineers of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) at the DEO level.. In the case of general elections to the State Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha, FLC is generally conducted at least 4 months and 6 months, respectively, before the election. In this process, the EVM units to be used in elections are checked by the authorised engineers of the manufacturers (BEL & ECIL) to ensure only functional EVMs and VVPATs are available for use in upcoming elections. As mentioned above, for transparency, National and state-recognised political parties at district headquarters are invited in writing by the DEO concerned at least two days before the beginning of FLC, and a copy is endorsed to state headquarters. The representatives of national and state-recognised political parties are involved to oversee the entire FLC process.
Next, the functionality and electrical checks of CU, BU, and VVPAT are conducted using the Pre-FLC Unit (P-FLCU). After machine checks, VVPAT is moved to the symbol loading stage. Symbol loading in VVPAT is done using the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) and has the facilitation of simultaneous viewing of symbol loading on TV/Monitor (at least 24”) to the representatives of national and state-recognised political parties who are present during the FLC. It may be noted that only dummy symbols are loaded in the VVPATs for the conduct of FLC and mock polls. Thereafter, the first mock poll is conducted in which symbol loading P-FLCU passed. CU, BU, and VVPAT are connected, and 96 votes are cast [i.e., 6 votes to each candidate button of the BU (16×6=96)]. The electronic result of EVMs and paper count of VVPAT slips are verified. Thereafter, the result is cleared from the control unit. This process is conducted for all units available for FLC, i.e., BU/CU/VVPAT. Once the EVM unit passes the above stages, a Green FLC OK sticker is pasted on the Control Unit (CU)/Ballot Unit (BU)/Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Red stickers per seals are pasted on CU and signed by FLC Engineer and FLC Supervisor, with the reason pasted on FLC rejected units. Signatures of BEL/ECIL engineers and the representatives of DEO are made on both the stickers as applicable. Pink paper seals are pasted on CU and signed by FLC Engineer and FLC Supervisor. The representatives of the recognised political parties are also permitted to sign on the seals.
In the next stage, a higher mock poll in 5% of randomly selected EVMs (i.e., 1200 votes in 1% EVMs, 1000 votes in 2 per cent EVMs, and 500 votes in 2% EVMs), using VVPATs, is conducted in the presence of representatives of recognised national and state political parties. Counting of printed ballot slips of each VVPAT is verified/tallied with the electronic result of the respective CU. The results are shown to the representatives of the recognised national and state political parties, and their signatures are taken in a prescribed register. It is to be noted that for the purpose of the mock poll and also to do the mock poll, the representatives of the recognised political parties are allowed to pick machines randomly themselves. The representatives of national and state-recognised political parties are allowed to sign the seals, forms, and register during FLC. After the successful completion of all above stages, the list of FLC ok EVMs is shared with all national and state-recognised political parties.
After completion of FLC, a maximum of 10% of EVMs and VVPATs are taken out for awareness and training purposes in the presence of national and state-recognised political parties. The list of awareness and training EVMs is shared with them. After all these procedures, when the election commission declares the poll, the first randomisation of EVMs is conducted in the presence of national and state-recognised political parties in which EVMs are allocated assembly constituency/segment-wise (AC/AS-wise) using a computer randomisation process. List of first randomised EVMs (AC/AS-wise) is shared with national and state-recognised political parties. After finalisation of the list of contesting candidates, the list of the first randomised EVMs (AC/AS-wise) is also shared with contesting candidates.
After the finalisation of the list of contesting candidates, a second randomisation of EVMs is conducted to allocate EVMs polling station-wise as well as for marking the reserve EVMs, which are to be used for replacement of machines that become non-functional on poll day. At this stage, symbols of candidates are loaded on machines with the help of a symbol loading unit (SLU) by the authorised engineers under the supervision of the returning officer, and the whole process is made available to the representatives of registered national and state political parties on a big screen through videography. List of second randomised EVMs is shared with candidates. The commissioning of EVMs for use in polls is done in the presence of contesting candidates. Candidates/their representatives are allowed to sign the seals used in sealing EVMs. Higher mock polls are conducted in 5% of randomly selected EVMs by casting 1000 votes. The electronic result of CU is tallied with the VVPAT slips count. Candidates/their representatives are allowed to pick 5% EVMs randomly and also to do mock polls. The mock poll is conducted for real candidates, as the symbols and names of candidates are already loaded on EVMs. After this, for actual polling, the dispersal of EVMs is done in the presence of the contesting candidates.
On a polling day, before the beginning of actual polling, a mock poll is conducted at every polling station in the presence of the polling agents nominated by the contesting candidates and at least 50 polls are cast. After satisfaction of polling agents, results are cleared from the control unit, and VVPATs are also removed and sealed in a black envelope. Thereafter, the actual poll begins. Polling agents nominated by the contesting candidates are allowed to remain in polling stations to observe the polling process.
At the beginning and the end of actual polling, the polling officer presses the START button and CLOSE button, respectively. The machine records the start and close time of the votes entered. When the ‘Close’ button is pressed, after which the machine does not accept any more votes. By pressing the Total button at the end of the poll, the total number of votes polled in the CU after the poll is obtained and recorded by the presiding officer in Form 17-C and the presiding officer’s diary. Here no candidate wise votes are shown but only total votes polled displayed on the control unit. A copy of Form 17-C is shared with the polling agents of the candidates having an entry of total votes polled. Polling agents are allowed to sign the seals used in sealing CU, BU, and VVPATs (before the commencement of the poll and after the close of the poll).
After the end of polls, EVMs are transported from polling stations to collection centres. Candidates/polling agents are allowed to follow vehicles carrying polled EVMs from polling station to collection centre. Polled EVMs are stored in the strong room under the security of central reserve force and police in the presence of candidates/their representatives. The strong room is keep surveillance of CCTV cameras for 24 × 7. Candidates/their representatives are also allowed to put their seals on the locks of the strong room. Candidates/their representatives are also allowed to monitor the storage and security of polled EVMs.
On counting day, the polled EVM strong room is opened in the presence of candidates/their representatives, the returning officer, and the ECI observer. Seals of EVMs having the signature of the polling agent are verified, and entries in Form 17-C are also matched with total votes on EVM. Thereafter, counting of votes is done in the presence of candidates and counting agents appointed by them. To ensure transparency and check the proper functioning of EVMs, VVPAT slips of at least 5 booths are counted and cross-checked with the result on the control unit. Till date, slips of 67,750 randomly selected VVPATs have been counted, and not a single case of transfer of vote meant for candidate A to candidate B has been encountered. Differences, if any, between CU and VVPAT counts have always been traceable to human errors, in the cases of difference the numbers of VVPAT are considered final.
From the date of declarations of results, it is mandatory to store EVMs in safe, strong rooms for at least 45 days. This is done to resolve the issue of recounting and showing evidence in the court in case of any election petition. Further, as per Supreme Court directions, candidates who finish second and third can seek verification of burnt microchips embedded in up to 5% of EVMs per Assembly constituency in writing after depositing certain fees. In this way, various administrative safeguards, procedures, and the participation of political parties/candidates or their representatives during different processes add strength to the overall robustness and transparency in the use of EVM systems
Confirmation of elections through EVMs by the Supreme Court from time to time
Since its inception, various cases were filed against the use of EVMS in various high courts and the Supreme Court, and on the directions of the courts, the process of conducting elections is made more transparent. For example, in the Subramanian Swamy v. Election Commission of India (2013) case, the top court directed the ECI to incorporate a system of “paper trail/paper receipt” in the electronic voting machines as convincing proof that the EVM has rightly registered the vote cast by a voter in favour of a particular candidate. And therefore, VVPAT is introduced in EVMs.
In N Chandrababu Naidu v. Union of India, (2019), the petitioner filed a writ petition seeking the issuance of a writ directing that a minimum of 50 per cent randomised VVPAT paper slip verification of EVM shall be conducted in every general and bye-election. The election commission opposed the petition and contended that the process to count 1 EVM takes about an hour. If verification of the VVPAT paper trail of 50% of the EVMs is done, the declaration of the result of the election could be delayed by 5-6 days. The petitioner did not get any relief from the court, and the petition was dismissed.
In the case of Association for Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India (2024), the top court dismissed the plea seeking either a return to elections on ballot papers or to have 100 percent VVPAT verification. Like the above case, the Election Commission of India contended that 100 percent is not feasible, and thus the petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Recently, after the results of the Maharashtra assembly election, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a return to the ballot paper system. Dismissing a PIL, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale said, “What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered with. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered.” When the petitioner said many foreign countries have adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit. The bench asked, “Why do you not want to be different from the rest of the world?” and finally dismissed the petition.
In this way we see, with different judgements of the Supreme Court has bought reforms and transparency in the conduct of elections through EVM rather than banning it altogether. The court in various cases rejected the possibility of returning to ballot papers which is a tight slap for those who spread fake information about EVMs
Exposing the Fake Narrative of Congress and Opposition on EVMs
After the recent defeat in Maharashtra assembly elections, the state congress president, Nana Patole, took a press conference and questioned the gap of 8 percent in interim and final percentage of voting. And he said that Congress would launch a nationwide campaign against the use of EVM. It was very ridiculous to hear such baseless allegations from a senior leader who has contested a number of elections in the past. It is expected of him to be aware of the difference between interim numbers and final numbers. The Election Commission clarified that interim percentages are conveyed by the polling officers through telephone and up to the time of 5 PM on the date of polling. While final numbers are prepared with calculating entries in FORM 17-C and counting the votes of voting of till 6 pm. In Maharashtra, the poll end time was 6 pm and had more than 1 lakh booths. According to the commission, in semi-urban and urban areas, people come late in the evening for voting. Further, in some remote areas of the state, sometimes it takes next morning to reach EVM back to collection centres. The commission also mentioned that postal votes were not counted in interim numbers. Postal votes are collected until 8 am on the result days as they come from all parts of the country. Therefore, the number of votes polled on EVM and actual numbers of count on result days varies. Voting count may increase due to the addition of postal votes, which are not included in the form 17 C entry. Another reason for an increase or decrease in numbers is due to human errors. If the polling officer forgets to clear mock votes polled on election days, then they get added into the actual numbers without having an entry in form 17-C. So, the story of sudden increase of votes is factually incorrect.
Second fake Narrative is being spread about the charging of the EVM battery showing 99 percent charging on counting days. It is clarified by the commission that EVMs use alkaline one-time usable batteries rather than lithium-ion batteries that we use in mobile phones that require frequent charging. Alkaline batteries consume low power. The battery of certain EVMs may show 99 % charging where number of votes polled are less than 1000. when not in use the alkaline battery does not drain. It works like calculator. Another aspect is Alkaline cells used in EVM power pack have the characteristics of regaining some voltage in power-OFF condition. If battery voltage increases to >7.4V during storage, then when CU is switched on during counting, it initialises the available battery capacity to 99 per cent.
Third fake narrative is Many Countries like USA do not use electronic voting system. It must be noted that India not only uses EVMs domestically but also exports EVMs to country like Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Namibia, Kenya, etc. Namibia used Indian EVMs in their presidential election too. It is also to be noted that about 31 countries use direct recording electronic (DRE) Machines for voting in various forms. EVM is one of the types of DRE machine. Elections in the USA are held in mixed kind of voting system, since USA is union of state each state has its own law about mode of voting. Some state use ballot while some other use DRE machines, computer like machines having touchscreen. In 2024 presidential election, 100% voters in Louisiana state in of voted using DREs (without VVPATs). Nevada is the other state where see 95.4% registered voters voted DREs, but with VVPATs. It is indeed that only 5% voters of USA come under DRE voting mode Unlike some DRE machines that may transmit votes electronically for central counting, Indian EVMs store the votes locally on the machine and require physical transport to counting centres for tallying. So EVMs in India are more secure than DRE in USA. Another aspect is USA has about 34 crore Population out of which 24 crores are eligible voters, While India’s population is about 140 crores out of which 96 crore people are registered voters. in India. So, we have four times more voters than USA. Second, on an average 65 to 70 percent voters’ turnout is recorded in elections in India. If India conduct elections on ballot papers it will take eight to ten days for counting of votes only. So, returning to ballot papers is like returning from railways to bull cart.
Here it is to be noted that not only political parties but some organisations like BAMCEF and Bharat Mukti Morcha are also misleading people by spreading fake narrative. President of BAMCEF and Bharat Mukti Morcha Waman Meshram is also seen spreading fake narrative about EVMs through lectures on various occasions. He makes false allegations on EVM functioning and allegedly provoked people to break EVMs during 2024 Lok Sabha elections. and result of his provocation is seen in some places in Maharashtra assembly election. A woman in Chandrapur district broke the EVM machine. Meshram is also seen abusing Supreme court Judges for upholding elections through EVMs and interpreting Supreme court judgements in a wrong manner. Such type of peoples is very dangerous for democracy as they spread fake narrative and instigate people against constitutional government. If Waman Meshram has any objection about EVMs then he should approach the supreme court but he doesn’t do that because he is aware that whatever he is propagating about EVMs is false and if he goes to supreme court then he will get exposed. So motive of such false allegations is just to make government unstable by fuelling unrest against the government. By propagating false information about EVM Mr. Meshram is not only disrespecting the institutions like supreme court but also disrespecting the constitution given by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that has mandated elections through EVMs under RPA act 1951. Therefore, the election commission of India should take cognisance of such anti national people who are spreading fake news and want unrest in the country and should file FIRs against them. Supreme court of India should also take the cognisance of such person for making false allegations against judges who upheld the use of EVMs in various cases and start should contempt proceeding against him.
Election Commission has also brought transparency in election process through EVMs by various reforms. Representative of political parties are are involved at every step during the elections. To avoid the doubt about EVM hacking EC organised a hackathon challenge in June 2017 and asked the political parties to hack the EVMs, but no political parties including congress who always blames EVM turned there. So, this shows that congress and opposition know that there is no discrepancy in EVMs but they blame EVMs to hide their failure.
So, the conclusion is, the 2024 Maharashtra assembly election is a lesson for the Congress party and the opposition. Instead of propagating a false story like the student who blames a tough paper for his failure in the examination rather than introspecting his own preparation, it is high time for the congress and the whole of opposition to introspect that why the people of India are seating them on opposition benches in most of the elections.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal)
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