EVM challenge to start from June 3, says EC

The challenge to prove that electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be tampered with will start from June 3, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Saturday, asserting the machines are tamper-proof. The announcement came over a week after the EC threw down the gauntlet to political parties to prove the EVMs used in the recent Assembly polls were tampered with. “The EVM challenge will start from June 3,” Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

The challenge to prove that EVMs (electronic voting machines) can be tampered with will start from June 3, the Election Commission announced on Saturday, asserting that the machines are tamper-proof.

“The EVM challenge will start from June 3,” Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said at press conference, a week after the poll authority threw down the gauntlet to political parties to prove that the voting machines used in the recent assembly polls were tampered with.

He said people, who had questioned reliability of EVMs, have not yet submitted any proof or credible material to support their claims.

Zaidi said replacement of the internal circuit of EVMs is not possible at all. “Our EVMs have strong technological features and are tamperproof,” he said.

He rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP’s claim that EVMs could be tampered with, and said no manipulation of the machines is possible.

Zaidi also said that improving the election process is a responsibility of all stakeholders and that EC is taking all necessary steps in this regard.

Several major opposition parties had claimed that the faith of people in the machines has eroded.

Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) and the AAP had alleged that voting machines used in the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab were tampered with and favoured the BJP. Later, several other parties had joined the chorus and asked the EC to revert to paper ballots.

The EC has already announced that it will ensure paper trail of voting in all future elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.