EVM Row: EC Says Tampering Impossible, Cong Suspects Foul Play

Hardik Patel had earlier alleged that 150 software engineers were hired to hack 5,000 EVMs.

Phase I of Gujarat elections was marred by allegations of faulty EVMs and EVM tampering via Bluetooth.

(Photo: The Quint)

As the numbers in the high voltage assembly elections of 2017 steers BJP ahead of rival parties, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti on Monday, 18 December assured the voters and politicians by stating that voting machines cannot be tampered with. The commissioner dismissed any question of EVM tampering in the elections, NDTV reported.

Questions being raised about EVMs have already been answered by us in the media. VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) were there in every polling stations in Gujarat, which enabled voters to see whom they voted for. So, issues being raised are not right. 

Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti 

‘Machines are Tamper-Proof,’ Maintain Former EC Chiefs

As hue and cry over the reliability of EVMs reaches its crescendo, former Election Commission chiefs continue to maintain that the machines are tamper-proof.

I firmly believe that our EVMs, VVPATs cannot be tampered with. This matter should be closed once and for all as it is tried and tested. EVM is a standalone machine, question of hacking doesn’t arise.

Former Chief Election Commissioner HS Brahma

Former chief election commissioner (CEC) TS Krishnamurthy declared that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are the “real winner” in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections and their “bashing” should stop now, PTI reported.

In addition, he urged both parties to prove their EVM tampering claims as both the parties are guilty of doing so in the past.

Opposition Cries Foul Play

But the matter did not diffuse then. After exit poll results showed the tide swaying in favour of the ruling BJP, several opposition leaders including those from the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Patidar agitation leaders Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, expressed apprehension that the EVMs may have been hacked and tampered with.

Former state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia had complained that EVM machines at three polling booths were connected to external devices like bluetooth, following which he registered a complaint with the district election officer, the Indian Express reported.

"The chips fitted in EVMs appear to be programmable using bluetooth and this raises the possibility of tampering. The voting system should be immune to such connectivity to external devices," added the candidate from Porbander.

A collector and an observer of the Election Commission (EC) were sent to the spot after an enquiry was ordered into the matter, the report added.

On 17 December, Hardik Patel questioned that “if a human body, made by god, could be tampered with, then why not an EVM, which is made by humans?”

According to an India Today report, Patel allegedly raised suspicions over attempts made to hack EVMs using a “source code” in the Patidar- strongholds of the state.

The Congress ally earlier alleged that a company had hired 150 software engineers of an Ahmedabad-based organisation to hack 5,000 EVMs.

The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee had earlier sought to direct the commission to count votes through paper trail attached to the EVMs in 20 percent of the polling booths in Gujarat. However, the apex court had declined to entertain a plea on Friday, 15 December, stated India Today.

In the earlier round of Assembly elections this year, the BJP had registered towering wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

In March earlier this year, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had alleged that the BJP victory had been engineered by large scale EVM tampering along with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal who also suspected foul play.

(With inputs from India Today, NDTV, Indian Express)