Use new EVMs in challenge, says HC

IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEBATE OVER TAMPERING WITH THE MACHINES, ENSURING THE CREDIBILITY OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION IS ALSO IMPORTANT,

THE COURT SAID

The election commission should hold its electronic voting machine (EVM) hacking challenge with fresh devices and not with those used in previous elections, the Uttarakhand high court said on Friday.

The impact of these observations on the EVM ‘hackathon’ scheduled on Saturday wasn’t immediately clear. A final order is expected later in the day.

“In the middle of a debate over tampering with the machines, ensuring the credibility of the election commission is also important,” the court said.

A two-judge HC bench was hearing a petition challenging the EC’s decision to let political parties try and hack into EVMs in a bid to scotch mounting tampering and rigging allegations.

Just two parties, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are participating in the challenge as others, such as the Aam Aadmi Party, are staying away because of a disagreement over rules.

Two EVM’s from Dehradun district were sent to the EC earlier this week to participate in the ‘hackathon’, sources said.

The challenge comes after months of allegations by opposition parties that EVMs were being tampered to manipulate large batches of votes. The EC and the government have denied all charges but have announced that all future elections will have EVMs with paper trails, which have the symbol of the candidate a person voted for.