The Evolution of Electronic Voting in India

India, the world’s largest democracy, has embraced technology to streamline its electoral process. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have become the standard means of conducting elections in India, replacing the traditional paper ballots and manual counting methods.

The Birth of EVMs

The EVM system was developed for the Election Commission of India by the state-owned Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics. Starting in the late 1990s, EVMs were introduced in Indian elections in a phased manner, marking a significant shift in the way elections were conducted.

The Advantages of EVMs

Before the advent of electronic voting, paper ballots were used, and manual counting was done. This process was not only expensive but also time-consuming and prone to fraudulent practices such as pre-filled fake ballots.

The introduction of EVMs brought about a sea change in the electoral process. They significantly reduced costs, enabled faster counting and announcement of results, and eliminated fraudulent practices. This was made possible due to safety features such as security locking, limits to the rate of voting per minute, and verification of thumb impressions.

EVMs are stand-alone machines built with Write Once Read Many (WORM) memories. They are self-contained, battery-powered, and do not need any networking capability. They do not have any wireless or wired internet components and interfaces, ensuring the integrity of the voting process.

Ensuring Tamper-Proof Elections

The Election Commission of India has stated that the machines, system checks, safeguard procedures, and election protocols are fully tamper-proof. To mitigate any doubts regarding the hardware, a sample number of votes for each political party nominee is entered into each machine prior to the election day. At the end of this sample trial run, the votes are counted and matched with the entered sample votes. This ensures that the machine’s hardware has not been tampered with, it is operating reliably, and that there were no hidden votes pre-recorded in each machine.

The journey of EVMs in India is a testament to the country’s commitment to leveraging technology for transparent and efficient elections. As the system continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for electronic voting in India.

Source: https://www.eci.gov.in/