Dear Blogger, EVM is in news again. EVM is an Indian innovation to record peoples voice through this electronic device popularly known as EVM. Election Commission of India[EC] which is an independent constitutional body brought this innovative way to record vote and conduct free and fair election on such a massive scale with more than 90 Cr people.
Before the Election period begins
Before the initiation of EVM allocation to a particular polling booth, returning officer organize meeting of all representatives of political parties in the presence of independent observers sent by EC. In this meeting, computerized randomization process takes place three times to randomly allocate EVM machine to a particular polling booth. By this way, Election Commission [EC] ensures the complete transparency of election process.
To further strengthen the process
"Closer to the election date, EVMs are allocated randomly to various Assembly segments (in a Lok Sabha seat) through a software in the presence of party representatives. If the representatives are absent, then a list of allocated EVMs and VVPAT machines for each Assembly segment is shared with the party office. From this point, the Returning Officer (RO) of the Assembly segment takes charge of the allocated machines and stores them in designated strong rooms.
Here, the second round of randomisation takes place. EVMs are commissioned to specific polling stations in the presence of party representatives. In fact, candidates are advised by the EC to share the machine numbers with their respective polling agents so that they can verify these before polling begins.After all machines are prepared with the setting of candidates and fixing of ballot papers, and then commissioned, the strong room is sealed in the presence of party representatives who can, if they wish, also put their own seal on the locks. The strong room is guarded round the clock under the charge of a senior police officer, not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. It can also be guarded by central police forces, wherever possible. Once sealed, the strong room can only be opened on a fixed date and time when the machines have to handed over to the polling parties to be delivered to their designated polling stations. All candidates and their election agents are informed beforehand about the date and time of opening of the strong rooms.
Apart from the machines allocated to specific polling stations, some reserve EVMs are also taken from the strong rooms and stored in a central place in the Assembly segment, so that defective machines can be replaced with as little delay as possible.
This year, in view of last year’s controversy over the movement and storage of unused EVMs during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, polled and unused machines are being transported only in GPS-enabled vehicles so that their movement can be tracked by the DEO and CEO. " **
After voting is over, there is proper record of total votes polled in poll diary available with booth officer. EVMs are being sealed in the presence of agent of political parties. After it, EVMs are being transported to district head quarter and kept in safe house[Strong room] constantly guarded by security forces till counting day.
On the day of counting, the seal on these EVMs are being checked again and break open in the presence of representative of political parties and election observers sent by EC.
The whole process is designed in such a way so that total transparency is maintained.There are number of people/officers involved at multiple level which over-rule any possibility of manipulation in EVM.
The questions being raised on EVM seems on wrong logic. The feature of EVM are as follows:-
[1] It is an independent stand alone device which is not connected to any network.
[2] All EVMs have unique serial number which are recorded in election commission database.
[3] All EVMs are manufactured by government owned corporation.
[4] Such EVMs are temper proof.
Before the Election period begins
"All available EVMs in a district are normally stored in a treasury or a warehouse under the direct control of the District Electoral Officer (DEO). Exceptions can be made in case of unavailability of storage space, but the designated treasury or warehouse should not be below the level of tehsil. The warehouse is secured by a double lock, guarded round the clock by policemen or security guards, and is also under CCTV surveillance. During a non-election period, EVMs cannot be moved out of the warehouse without specific instructions from the Election Commission. The first-level check of the EVMs by engineers is done here, in the presence of representatives of political parties."**
Before the initiation of EVM allocation to a particular polling booth, returning officer organize meeting of all representatives of political parties in the presence of independent observers sent by EC. In this meeting, computerized randomization process takes place three times to randomly allocate EVM machine to a particular polling booth. By this way, Election Commission [EC] ensures the complete transparency of election process.
To further strengthen the process
"Closer to the election date, EVMs are allocated randomly to various Assembly segments (in a Lok Sabha seat) through a software in the presence of party representatives. If the representatives are absent, then a list of allocated EVMs and VVPAT machines for each Assembly segment is shared with the party office. From this point, the Returning Officer (RO) of the Assembly segment takes charge of the allocated machines and stores them in designated strong rooms.
Here, the second round of randomisation takes place. EVMs are commissioned to specific polling stations in the presence of party representatives. In fact, candidates are advised by the EC to share the machine numbers with their respective polling agents so that they can verify these before polling begins.After all machines are prepared with the setting of candidates and fixing of ballot papers, and then commissioned, the strong room is sealed in the presence of party representatives who can, if they wish, also put their own seal on the locks. The strong room is guarded round the clock under the charge of a senior police officer, not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. It can also be guarded by central police forces, wherever possible. Once sealed, the strong room can only be opened on a fixed date and time when the machines have to handed over to the polling parties to be delivered to their designated polling stations. All candidates and their election agents are informed beforehand about the date and time of opening of the strong rooms.
Apart from the machines allocated to specific polling stations, some reserve EVMs are also taken from the strong rooms and stored in a central place in the Assembly segment, so that defective machines can be replaced with as little delay as possible.
This year, in view of last year’s controversy over the movement and storage of unused EVMs during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, polled and unused machines are being transported only in GPS-enabled vehicles so that their movement can be tracked by the DEO and CEO. " **
After voting is over, there is proper record of total votes polled in poll diary available with booth officer. EVMs are being sealed in the presence of agent of political parties. After it, EVMs are being transported to district head quarter and kept in safe house[Strong room] constantly guarded by security forces till counting day.
"Once voting ends, EVM are not dispatched to the strong rooms right away. The Presiding Officer is required to prepare an account of votes recorded in the machines. An attested copy of this is provided to each candidate’s polling agent. After this, the EVM is sealed. Candidates and their agents are allowed to put their signatures on the seals, which they can check for any signs of tampering. Candidates or their representatives travel behind vehicles carrying EVMs from the polling station to the strong room, preferably located close to the counting centre.
Reserve EVMs should also be returned at the same time when the polled EVMs are returned. Once all used EVMs have arrived, the strong room is sealed and the candidate or her representative is permitted to put their own seals or locks as well. They are also allowed to keep a watch on the strong rooms round the clock.
Once sealed, the strong room cannot be opened until the morning of counting day. If the strong room has to opened before that for an unavoidable reason, it can only be done in the presence of the candidate or his representative, who will be allowed to put their seals or locks again after the room is closed.
Security forces are deployed in three layers around storage rooms with Central Armed Police Forces guarding the inner ring. On the day of the results, counting begins only after the candidate or her polling agent has checked the machine number and whether the seal is unbroken" **
On the day of counting, the seal on these EVMs are being checked again and break open in the presence of representative of political parties and election observers sent by EC.
The whole process is designed in such a way so that total transparency is maintained.There are number of people/officers involved at multiple level which over-rule any possibility of manipulation in EVM.
The recent voice of EVM manipulation is very unfortunate. It appears that political parties who are raising the voice against EVM dont understand the whole procedure adopted by EC to safeguard EVM. It is very dangerous trend to question EVM.
Once,EC has organised all party meeting and challenge all representatives to temper EVMs. Nobody could do it that time. This must have silent all opposition to EVMs.
Besides, Election result through same EVM in several states brought parties from all spectrum in power such as AAP in Delhi,Congress in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan,Chattisgarh, TMC in West Bengal,Left in Kerala, TRS in Telengana,BJP in several states, etc. Therefore questioning of EVM by any political party looks laughable. This seems an attempt to question the whole election process which is very dangerous. World wide, conducting free and fair election is always a big challenge. To question EVM is to question the integrity of EC and the whole process of election. In India, total votes polled is much much higher than the population of whole Europe or population of USA. To conduct election on such massive scale is possible only through EVMs.
To further strengthen the confidence on EVM, VVPAT machines are also being used on few booths to match physical print of vote polled with the votes recorded on EVM. These measures ensure the complete transparency of election procedure.
It appears that the current controversy on EVM is a big conspiracy to undermine Indian elections which might create turbulence in Indian society. There might be law and order issue in Country if opposition parties could not win expected number of seats. There are some forces which always tried to destabilize India and legitimize the elected government. At a time, when country is doing fine on economic,scientific,military and On international front, anti-national forces are trying to create unrest through violence or questioning the basic feature of any democracy that is Election. It is easy to demolish the confidence of people on EC but very difficult to restore that confidence or trust. We have seen the rise of militancy in J&K when people of J&K felt bad on rigging of election of legislative assembly. Indian political parties should behave responsibly and should not raise questions without any basis or sound logic. The whole world is watching us. If political parties keep on questioning EVM, the newly elected government would have to face trust deficit which is not good for a country like India. The successful conduct of election of this scale would have been a proud moment for every Indian but mindless opposition to EVM and due to castigating doubts on integrity of EC have spoiled these possible moments of pride and glory.
I would request EC to immediately take steps to inform the people about the whole process of EVM management. They should conduct LIVE demo on all Tv Channels on EVM functioning. The EC should also release a detailed presentation in print media to educate Indian people and remove any doubt from the minds of Indian people. Any doubt in the mind of common people on election process might bring chaos in the country and undermine the legitimate authority of elected government. The sweat and mid night oil burnt by millions of government officers under command of EC to conduct free and fair election should be given due respect and worth by every political party of India....Jai Hind...Keep on blogging
** Source:- Additional input from The Indian Express along with three Pictures
** Source:- Additional input from The Indian Express along with three Pictures
