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The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were introduced by the Election Commission of India to bring transparency and accuracy to the election process.
But is this really happening? Are EVMs and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) recording votes with accuracy?
In the past, The Quint, through its two reports, brought to fore the discrepancies in the data on votes polled and counted in 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But the EC had brushed aside the discrepancies on grounds that the data released was “provisional” and not final.
To find out if there were any discrepancies in EVM votes polled and counted in 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, The Quint analysed the Form 20 data of all constituencies. Form 20 provides details about the number of votes counted, number of votes received by each candidate in each polling station, total number of registered voters, number of NOTA votes and tendered votes in each constituency. The Form 20 data is compiled by the election officers.
The Quint reached out to Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer with its query over the discrepancies. The response of Delhi CEO can be summarised in the following three points:
Interestingly, all three points do not address the issue of mismatch and can be easily debunked.
EC’s claims that the difference in voters’ turnout and counted data is ‘minuscule’ in nature. But could this ‘minuscule’ difference have affected the verdict of at least two Delhi Assembly constituencies, where the winning margin was less than 1000 votes?
Each polling station is manned by four election officers comprising a Presiding Officer or the head of the polling station, and three other polling officers. On an average, not more than 1000 voters are listed in one polling station because the VVPAT cannot record more than 1200 votes.
Not just that, as per the Election Commission’s manual, the Presiding Officer is supposed to record voter turnout or votes polled in his polling station every two hours in his diary, and simultaneously inform the Returning Officer of the constituency about the same.
When the election process is well-defined, then why do we witness discrepancies in the votes polled and counted?
The EC’s announcement, declaring the voter turnout data for the Delhi Assembly elections was delayed by 24 hours. EC’s explanation for the delay in the announcement was that it ‘wanted to avoid speculation.’
“They did not want to speculate and wanted to give exact figures... So, returning officers worked throughout the night to check data to ensure it is accurate. It has taken a little bit of time but, in data entry, it is very important to ensure accuracy,” said Ranbir Singh, Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer.
EC had earlier said that there was a delay in the announcement of votes polled data because they wanted to ‘ensure accuracy’. They are now saying that the inaccuracy in votes polled and counted data is because of clerical mistakes. At least one of the two claims appears to be misleading.
The Form 20 – which provides polling station-wise details of votes counted – shows that EVMs of all polling stations were counted. Clearly, no EVM was set aside. Nor were votes not counted because of some technical error. Further, mock poll votes were also not deleted.
Thirdly, if EVM data of four constituencies was not retrieved or counted, then as per the rules, VVPAT slips should have been counted. Was this done? If not, why?
What about the deficit in EVM votes count? Were votes deleted from the EVMs after polling was over, resulting in the deficit of votes?
Based on The Quint's report on the mismatch in votes polled and counted in 2019 Lok Sabha election, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court. The Court issued notice to the Election Commission of India seeking an explanation. The matter is still pending.
Inspite of a petition in the SC, why is the EC not ensuring accuracy of data in the election process?
The Quint has written to the office of Delhi CEO, seeking further answers about their response on the issue. We will update the article as and when we receive their reply.
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