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The issue of Electronic Voting Machines being tampered with in India has been raked up by several political parties. Linked to this debate is the core emotion of democracy – making it no ordinary issue.
Naturally, the voices alleging tampering with the very fabric of democracy have instilled a fear even among the common populace – “could it be that our elections are rigged?”
Several countries in the world – including Germany, Netherlands and the United States of America – have banned the use of EVMs.
Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy writes in a column for The Hindu:
Besides, England and France never even relied on EVMs. Even a tech-friendly country like the US has banned the use of EVMs.
In defense of India’s EVMs, the machines cannot be tampered with, either through the internet or bluetooth. They’re kept separate from other machines. But according to the Aam Aadmi Party’s expose on Tuesday, the machines can be hacked at the booth level.
This is not the first time a debate about EVMs has been triggered in the country. Swamy had raked up this issue in 2009, though he was not with BJP at the time, and the Congress party was holding fort at the Centre.
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