India: Electronic voting machine tampering issue: Supreme Court wants Election Commission’s reply within 4 weeks | India Today

The Supreme Court today sought a reply from the Election Commission over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with. The top court has asked the central poll panel to file its reply over the PIL within four weeks. The plea sought examination of the “quality, software/ malware and hacking effect in the EVMs from a reliable electronic lab/scientist and software expert and to file their report before this court for further action/prosecution”. In his PIL, advocate M L Sharma has also sought a direction to the Centre for registering an FIR to investigate the alleged tempering of EVMs “for vested interest by the political party and to file their report before the apex court”.

India: Election Commission served notice by top court on efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines | Times of India

The Supreme Court today served a notice to the Election Commission on a complaint filed seeking an investigation into the efficacy and accuracy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that some politicians recently said can be “easily manipulated.”
The top court however refused to grant the petitioner’s request to issue a notice to the CBI on the same issue. ML Sharma, the petitioner, had filed the petition after BSP leader Mayawati and then AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal raised questions about EVMs, saying their parties suffered big defeats in UP and Punjab, respectively, because of these machines that had been “tampered with”.

India: Electronic voting machine fraud? Roll out VVPATs, only way to silence doubting politicians, say ex-CECs | The Indian Express

Calling for a quick rollout of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in all polling stations across the country, former Chief Election Commissioners S Y Quraishi and H S Brahma have said that the paper trail system is the only way to silence politicians raising doubts over alleged tampering of electronic voting machines or EVMs. Speaking at The Indian Express Idea Exchange event on Monday (transcript will be published in The Sunday Express), Brahma said: “I personally feel worried when political parties and politicians question the credibility of voting machines. The credibility of EVMs has been established beyond doubt through court judgments. Having said that, I think, once we cover all polling stations with VVPATs, it will put an end to 90 per cent of the allegations leveled against EVMs and we will have the most dependable election process in the world.”

India: Letters for 2 years, SOS to PM, Election Commission still awaits paper trail funds | The Indian Express

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi four months ago, the Election Commission sought urgent release of funds to procure enough Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to cover all polling stations ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The EC has sent over 10 reminders to the government on the matter, since June 2014, and the letter to Modi by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, on October 25, 2016, was an SOS of sorts. The CEC very rarely writes directly to the PM, with its communication to the government on electoral matters normally limited to Law and Home ministries. Several parties, including the BSP, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party, have raised doubts about tampering of EVMs following the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand results. Before the 2014 general elections, the BJP had talked of EVM tampering on many occasions.

India: Is banning electronic voting machines the solution? Should India follow The West? | Businessworld

Political leaders who lost the recent state elections – Mayawati and Harish Rawat among them have alleged the electronic voting machines were tampered with. Arvind Kejriwal too questioned the use of the electronic method of gathering votes. Now, Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi also seem to be indulging in the theory. Is there a possibility of rigging electoral outcomes in a general election to the Lok Sabha? This question has arisen not only because of the unexpected number of seats won or lost by some parties in the recent contest. It is accentuated by the recent news from many western nations doubting the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and bringing back the ‘old-fashioned ballot system’. Let’s look at the situation from a different angle. What is our idea of democracy based on? (1) Free and fair elections (2) Equal voting rights (3) Right to represent ourselves. Well, these and others would only stand straight if the vote gathering process is transparent enough for the citizens to believe in it.

India: Election Commission should probe into electronic voting machine tampering charges: Congress | The Economic Times

The Congress today said the Election Commission should probe into the EVM tampering charges made by some parties to ensure that voters’ confidence is not shattered and there is no blot on India’s democracy. “If any party has doubts over efficacy of EVMs, it is the Election Commission’s duty to hold a probe. The EC’s first responsibility is the voters should have confidence that the vote cast by them reaches the person they want,” Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said. “India is the largest democracy and we take pride in that. We should not allow any blot on it. The Election Commission should hold an investigation and we do not have any objection,” she said. Asked if the Congress is ready for a probe in Punjab too where the AAP is alleging EVM tampering, she said her party has the confidence and does not fear any investigation.

India: CDAC working on electronic voting machines for voting from any place | Times of India

An electronic voting machine (EVM) that lets a person vote from the nearest polling booth anywhere in the country for a candidate in his constituency is what the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is working on at present.
The outgoing director general Rajat Moona said, “We have submitted a proposal to the ministry. No work has been done as yet, and no talks have been held with Election Commission either.” Moona, on how the machine may work, said, “We are still researching. Probably, if a voter goes to the nearest polling station, he can tell the presiding officer his state, district and constituency he wants to cast his vote in. The presiding officer will key in the information into the EVMs which may show the list of candidates and party symbols in the constituency registered in the voter’s name and he can cast his vote.” On allegations of EVM tampering, Moona said, “The machine has no antenna to receive or transmit messages. Every machine goes through three mock tests and is kept in high security vaults.”

India: Election Commission dismisses electronic voting machine tampering allegations by BSP | Tech2

The Election Commission (EC) has refuted the allegations of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), as levelled by BSP supremo Mayawati on Saturday. The EC said that the EVMs could not be tampered with and that candidates are allowed to randomly check the machines before the actual voting. “The machine is both mechanically and electronically protected to prevent any tampering/manipulation. The programme used in these machines is burnt into a one time programmable chip so that it cannot be altered or tampered with,” the EC said in its reply to Mayawati.

India: Elections: Why is the BJP opposed to the ‘Totaliser’ machine? | National Herald

How important is it for political parties to know how many people have voted for them in each polling booth? Not much, felt the Election Commission and the Law Commission, which recommended that votes polled in 14 booths be counted together with the help of a Totaliser machine developed by Bharat Electronics and Electronic Corporation of India, manufacturers of Electronic Voting Machines. Putting an end to booth-wise counting would help enhance secrecy and prevent the harassment of voters, felt the two Commissions. “Using a totaliser would increase the secrecy of votes during counting, thus preventing the disclosure of voting patterns and countering fears of intimidation and victimisation,” said the Law Commission in its recommendation. It could also have made counting faster and eventually reduced cost.

India: Election Commission plans to replace all pre-2006 EVMs with advanced M3 machines | The Economic Times

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having advocated simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls in several of his public speeches and President Pranab Mukherjee lending him support, sufficient background is being created for the roll out of this major election makeover. While the Election Commission of India waits for the government to take more concrete legal action, it is alongside readying the new age EVM to take on the challenge. The latest avatar of the Electronic Voting Machine is called ‘M3’ and the Election Commission is looking to ramp up its production ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The plans are to replace all pre 2006 EVMs with the M3- a more sophisticated machine with built in self diagnostics, minimal chances of machine failure and the ability to clamp shut the moment any tampering effort is made.

India: Software glitch responsible for missing names in voters’ list? | Daily News & Analysis

While the Election Commission of India (ECI), State Election Commission (SEC) and Maharashtra’s civic bodies continue to make excuses with regard to the large scale chaos and lakhs of names missing from voters’ list, it appears that a software malfunction may have caused the fiasco. The SEC used the software (developed by Mahaonline) for the first time to divide the list of 92 lakh voters according to wards and booths. The original voters’ list is prepared by the ECI and is based on Assembly constituencies. For the civic elections held this year, about 227 wards and over 7,000 polling booths were set up in Mumbai. While the move aimed to curb errors in the process, it proved to complicate the process. Sources claim that the software glitch led to a faulty separation of voters’ names according to wards and booths. The software was used by 10 civic corporations under the guidance of the SEC.

India: Maha Civic Polls Show EVMs May Be ‘Easily Vulnerable Machines’ | The Quint

On the evening of 23 February, an unexpected development shocked Maharashtra as counting for local body polls in the state was ending. Violence erupted in Panchavati in the heart of Nashik city following complaints of tampering of EVMs (electronic voting machines). The city BJP chief’s son was declared the winner from the ward, but the Shiv Sena claimed that the total of the votes received by each candidate exceeded the total number of votes cast. This led to clashes between Shiv Sena and BJP workers in the streets. Soon, mobs began vandalising and burning vehicles. Police had to resort to lathi-charge and firing in the air to disperse the crowd of 800 people. Nine policemen, as well as some local residents, were injured in the rampage.

India: Mismatch in data on website, apps and electoral rolls irks voters | Times of India

Large-scale goof-ups in electoral rolls and voter applications denied several hundreds an opportunity to cast their vote in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections on Tuesday. At many centres, presiding officers informed that 10-20% people who turned up to vote returned disappointed. While names of many voters were missing on the electoral rolls, many others got confused with the different information provided by voter applications and websites. Many became victims of the new ward system and could not find their polling booths. Unlike previous elections, most of them didn’t receive the voting slips. After struggling for hours to find his booth, Prakash Khandelwal gave up. “First, I went to a school in Ramdaspeth where I had voted during the last Vidhan Sabha elections. The officials couldn’t find my name and gave me a handwritten chit, asking me to go to Gandhi Nagar Hindi Prathmik Shala where too my name was still missing,” he said.

India: After VVPAT snag, repolling ordered at 48 polling stations | PTI

The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered repolling in 48 polling stations falling in Majitha, Muktsar and Sangrur Assembly segments in Punjab following malfunctioning in the Voter-Verified Audit Paper Trail (VVPAT) EVMs on 4 February. The repolling will take place on 9 February. Besides, the repolling will also take place at polling stations in Moga and Sardulgarh segments where EVMs displayed the votes polled during mock polls. “The repolling will take place at 48 polling stations because of the malfunctioning in VVPAT on polling day. The repolling will take place on 9 February,” Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V K Singh said here on Tuesday. He said polling stations where the repolling shall take place are in Majitha, Muktsar and Sangrur assembly segments where VVPAT developed snag. Singh further said that repolling would also be held at polling stations in Moga and Sardulgarh Assembly segments.

India: Paper-trail voting machines a ‘nightmare’, says Punjab chief electoral officer after glitches | assembly-elections | Hindustan Times

A large number of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, installed for the first time in the ongoing Punjab assembly polls, have developed snags. Reports of a large number of machines developing technical snags have come in from Majitha and Sangrur constituencies. “It’s a logistical nightmare — we have fewer engineers and more complaints,” said Punjab chief electoral officer VK Singh.

India: Non-Resident Indians Make Their Voices Heard in Punjab Elections | News18

Punjab’s strong non-resident community has arrived in hordes from Canada, Britain, the US and other countries for the February 4 assembly elections in the state.
All major parties are paying special attention to the diaspora — or non-resident Indians (NRIs) — who have arrived here as the community is believed to have an influence on voting prospects in Punjab. In the past over one year, not only have NRIs extended support to the three major parties in the fray — the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal — but are also believed to have made major financial contributions to the parties.

India: 20 days shy of elections, voter ID cards still a dream for residents | Times of India

With just about 20 days left for assembly elections in UP state, Indirapuram residents are yet to receive their voter ID cards. Many residents, who have been submitting applications repeatedly for as long as eight years, complain of not receiving any satisfactory response from Block Level Officers (BLO) and are still waiting for their voter id cards. Speaking to Times of India, residents of Indirapuram said that many of them are recent settlers in the NCR region from Delhi and are facing unique problems. “I used to live in Chandni Chowk in Delhi till 2007, and moved to Indirapuram, Ghaziabad soon after that. Because I was not relevant as a voter in Delhi anymore due to the change in my permanent address, I had gotten my previous voter identification cancelled and in the last 10-12 years, have submitted four applications for getting my new NCR voter ID card made, but nothing has happened so far. I am still waiting and basically do not belong anywhere now,” said Girish Mehra, resident of Charms Solitaire, a residential society in Ahinsa Khand 2, Indirapuram.

India: Election Commission to Decide Fate of ‘Cycle’ Symbol | News 18

The Election Commission is expected to announce on Monday its decision on the demand for ‘cycle’ symbol by the two warring factions of the Samajwadi Party. The EC, after hearing both the sides on Friday, had reserved its verdict on the issue. Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav have been asserting their respective claims over the party’s election symbol ‘cycle’.

India: Don’t Use Indelible Ink in Banks: Election Commission To Finance Ministry | NDTV

The government has been asked by the Election Commission to stop using indelible ink to check multiple exchanges by people at different branches after the notes ban. The election body has told the Finance Ministry in a letter that several states will hold elections and there will be confusion as indelible ink also marks citizens who have already voted. Five states will hold by-polls on Saturday, the Election Commission has said, and the government should ensure that the use of indelible ink on people exchanging banned Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes does not cause a problem when they vote.

India: New Voting Machine For Extra Secrecy Nixed By Government | NDTV

A move that would have added another layer of secrecy to the voting process in India has been nixed by a team of ministers headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The ministers have decided not to allow the Election Commission to introduce Totaliser voting machines, which make it difficult to learn how an area voted by scrambling data from polling booths. The Election Commission has been planning for over a decade to introduce the machines. The government, however, has been against it because it argues it will hamper polling booth management.

India: Government exploring involving start-ups to make EVMs and VVPAT units | Business Standard News

With an eye on better technology and competitive prices, the government is exploring possibility of involving start-ups to make EVMs with the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) units, which are being currently produced by the PSUs Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), said informed sources. The decision to rope in the start-ups for producing the EVMs coupled with paper trail machines was taken following the cabinet decision to allocate Rs 920 crore for the purchase of the EVMs by the Election Commission. The only caveat is that machines to be produced by the start-ups will have to comply with the security requirements, they said.

India: High Court Seeks Responses On Removing Party Symbols From Voting Machines | NDTV

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought reply from the Centre, State Election Commission and the AAP government on a plea for removal of party symbols of candidates from Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in municipal corporation polls in the National Capital. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notices to the authorities concerned and asked them to file short counter affidavits within six weeks. The court has now posted the matter for September 28. The plea filed by law student Sanjana Gahlot and advocate Hargyan Singh Gahlot has sought directions for inclusion of photographs of contesting candidates on the EVM.

India: Electronic Voting Machines successfully tracked using mobile technology | Hindustan Times

Meghalaya has successfully conducted an exercise to ensure that mobile technology is implemented during elections across the state to track EVMs as per the instruction of the Election Commission. A pilot exercise was initiated successfully for 330 numbers of balloting units and for 288 numbers of control units in West Jaintia Hills district as per instructions of the EC,” Meghalaya chief electoral officer Frederick R Kharkongor told PTI on Friday. During the exercise the EVMs were tagged with bar codes and subsequently mobile phones were used to upload information and unique IDs of each and every EVM, he said, adding the same was immediately uploaded to a mobile application linked to a server located at Election Commission.

India: PMK to seek audit of voter paper trail | Business Standard

The PMK will seek an audit or cross-checking of May 16 polling as recorded by the electronic voting machines and on the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system, said party leader Anbumani Ramadoss. The party will also seek an amendment to the Representation of the People Act giving the Election Commission sufficient powers to conduct the polls in a free and fair manner like the powers to disqualify a party or a candidate for bribing voters and other acts. “We will soon petition the Election Commission to audit the paper trail system (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) that was installed in 17 assembly constituencies during the May 16 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu,” former union minister and PMK leader Ramadoss told IANS. “We demand reverting to paper ballot system. The voting machines can be tampered with in couple of minutes. The system can be programmed in such a way that every fifth vote will be in favour of a particular party,” Ramadoss said.

India: Election Commission cancels polls to two Tamil Nadu seats | Free Press Journal

In an unprecedented move in the history of Tamil Nadu”s electoral politics, the Election Commission of India (EC) on Saturday decided to rescind its poll notification in two constituencies following conclusive evidence of bribery of voters on a large scale. Quite shockingly, the EC has noted that bribing of voters continued in one of the constituencies after the postponement of polls in Aravakurichi constituency in Karur district and Thanjavur constituency, both in central Tamil Nadu, on charges of irregularities. Tamil Nadu went to polls on May 16 but polling in the two constituencies was deferred at the eleventh hour – first in Aravakurichi and then in Thanjavur. Originally the deferred polls were to take place on May 23 but the EC withheld its decision after the PMK and BJP”s candidates moved the Madras High Court seeking postponing of the elections.

India: 2019 general elections to have paper-trail electronic voting machines | The Economic Times

Polling for 2019 general elections will be conducted through paper trail-based electronic voting machines to “enhance transparency”. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi also said that voting through the internet is not on EC’s agenda in the near future though it is going to use information and communication technology (ICT) in a big way to reach the voters in the coming days. “We have reached a stage where people are demanding hundred per cent deployment of paper audit trail machine. We have preserved the secrecy (in this system) as well. Our plan is that by 2019, the whole country will be covered by paper audit trail machines. The budget for this has been committed now,” Zaidi said while addressing an international seminar today. The next general elections are due in 2019.

India: IT Department Working on E-Delivery of Ballots to Remote Voters | NDTV

The IT department in collaboration with the Election Commission is developing an e-postal ballot system which will enable electronic delivery of ballots to remote voters. The system is proposed to provide one-way e-delivery, wherein the ballots shall be delivered electronically to remote voters, who will then download and print the ballots, an official in Communications and IT Ministry told PTI. Voters will then mark their choices, thereby converting the ballot to vote and seal it in an envelope. “This envelope, along with procedurally required declarations, be put into another envelope and mailed through postal system to the returning officer by post,” the official said. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), under the Communications and IT department, is developing the e-postal ballot delivery system. At present, it is working on one-way or onward delivery of ballots but in future, it may include both ways – delivery and receipt of ballot.

India: Election Commission reports that India has 1866 registered political parties | The Financial Express

There has been a rush for registration of political parties, with as many as 239 new outfits enrolling themselves with the Election Commission between March, 2014 and July this year, taking their number to 1866. According to the Commission, as on July 24, there are 1866 political parties which are registered with it. Out of these, 56 are recognised as registered national or state parties, while the rest are “unrecognised, registered” parties. According to data complied by the Commission, in the last Lok Sabha election in 2014, 464 political parties had fielded candidates.