With the general elections round the corner, the debate on the electronic voting machines (EVM) has once again come to the fore, much of it reflecting concerns over the transparency of the voting system. While the Election Commission must do everything possible to convince the political parties, voters and civil society about the efficacy of the voting machines, it is also important to put an end to conspiracy theories surrounding the EVMs. It has been proved beyond any doubt that the voting machines are robust, reliable and tamper-proof. The EVMs have met all the criteria – technological, legal, legislative and regulatory – and proved time and again that they are incorruptible.
However, the demand for expanding the VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) slip facility is justified, as it will assure the voter that his or her vote has been properly recorded. The paper trail was introduced by the poll panel in 2013 precisely for the purpose of dispelling apprehensions about functioning of EVMs. The deployment of improved VVPAT machines will help curb glitches in the coming general elections. The allegation that EVMs can be hacked by Bluetooth or wi-fi is mischievous and misleading. EVMs do not have such networking devices installed in them. Moreover, the machines are allotted to constituencies and polling stations in a random manner, which would make their tampering virtually impossible. It is a regressive idea to revert to the ballot paper system when the EVMs have proved their trustworthiness over decades and helped in preventing electoral malpractices like rigging and booth capturing. But the government and the ECI should do more to reassure the voters.