Preamble of Constitution of India says that India is ‘Republic & Democratic’ country. which makes elections in India an inherent part of politics and it have been conducted since Independence almost every year at block level, State level or at National level (General elections). In India, elections give no less enthusiasm to people than any festival. Hence, to celebrate this festival of Democracy the main instrument is the Ballot Paper through which the voters cast their votes and elect their representatives. But the greed of getting elected and have power by some election candidates gave rise to scenario like ‘Booth Capturing’ and ‘Stealing of Ballot Boxes’. Hence, to tackle this problem of ‘Booth Capturing’ the legislature started a more secure medium i.e. Electronic Voting Machine (E.V.M).

M.B. Haneefa in 1980 made the first Indian Electronic Voting Machine, which was registered on 15^thOctober 1980 as “Electronic Vibrated Counting Machine”.The public saw the EVM for the first time in a government exhibition organized in six cities of Tamil Nadu. The Election Commission then decided to use it. After which the process of framing it started with the help two PSU’s of India which are ‘Bharat Electronic Limited’ and ‘Electronics Corporation of India Limited’. In the By-elections of 1982 of North Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala, EVMs were first time used for polling. Although the EVMs were not used for some years after 1983. For this, the Supreme Court had issued a legal provision. In December 1988, the law was amended in Parliament and Section 61A was added in the Representation of People Act, 1951. Under which the Election Commission got the power to use the voting machine.The EVMs that were produced during 1989-90 were used in the November 1998 assembly elections. Later on, since 2004 the Election Commission of India started using the EVMs in almost all the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

What is EVM?

 Electronic Voting Machine (also known as EVM) is voting using electronic means to either aid or take care of the chores of casting and counting votes. An EVM is designed with two units: the control unit and the balloting unit. These units are joined together by a cable.The control unit of the EVM is kept with the presiding officer or the polling officer. The balloting unit is kept within the voting compartment for electors to cast their votes. This is done to ensure that the polling officer verifies your identity. A Balloting Unit caters upto 16 candidates. Four Balloting Units linked together catering in all to 64 candidates can be used with one control unit.An EVM can record a maximum of 2,000 votes. Withthe EVM, instead of issuing a ballot paper, the polling officer will press the Ballot Button which enables the voter to cast their vote. The Balloting Unit of EVM is a small Box-like device, on top of which each candidate and his/her election symbol is listed like a big ballot paper. Against each candidate’s name, a red LED and a blue button is provided. The voter polls his vote by pressing the blue button against the name of his desired candidate.

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) also plays an imperative role in voting. VVPAT is another independent machine attached to the EVM which helps the voter verify the vote. After casting the vote, a slip is printed which contains the serial number, name, and symbol of the candidate and is visible through a window for seven seconds. Post this, the printed slip automatically falls in the sealed drop box of the VVPAT.

Only engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited conduct checking of EVMs and VVPATs. Currently there are two variants of the EVM that are made in India, one is M2 EVMs and another is M3 EVMs.

Advantages of EVMs

EVM machines simplify the process of voting. In order to vote, the voter needs to press only one button. These machines can be easily moved from one place to another compared to the large ballot box.Polling from ballot paper used to cost a lot of paper costs, which affected the trees indirectly. The waste of paper used during the election, using EVM has been put to rest, hence it is also beneficial for environmental protection.EVM machines are also less expensive than ballet paper by financial vision. Because these machines run from the battery so the cost of electricity consumption is also saved. Counting of these machines is faster and easier. With the EVMs, the election results take place within a few hours as compared to manual calculations that take several days. Also, bogus voting is greatly reduced as the vote is recorded only once.

 Criticism of EVMs

Electronic Voting Machines in the recent times in India have become the topic of debate. As there have been various reports on EVM, that it can be tampered easily and the votes of one political party or candidate can be easily transferred to another. Although the Election Commission of India has denied from time to time the possibility of tampering of EVMs and have given reports that EVM can’t be tampered.

ARUSHI SRALECH