A POTTED HISTORY OF THE ROW OVER ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

It was Subramanian Swamy who filed a petition in the Delhi High Court in 2011 challenging the use of EVMs in their current form. The court, while saying that EVMs are not tamper-proof, did not issue any direction to the Election Commission. Swamy then approached the Supreme Court, which, in October 2013, ruled that the Election Commission would use VoterVerified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) linked to EVMs in a phased manner and full implementation should be achieved by 2019.

When the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll results came out, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said: “These election results are very surprising. It is very difficult to accept them… The reports I got have raised suspicion that the voting machines have been managed... It appears that voting machines have not registered votes cast in favour of other parties, or all the votes have been polled for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even Muslim votes have gone to the BJP… If this system (EVM) persists in 2019, then fighting elections for the Opposition will be of no consequence.”

The issue was revived by Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He said EVMs should not be used in the municipal election in Delhi. His party was reduced to third place in a crucial by-election in the national capital.

There is no clarity regarding the Congress position on EVMs. However, M Veerappa Moily said technology should not be blamed for electoral setbacks. Punjab Chief Minister from the Congress, Amarinder Singh said: “If EVMs were fixed, I would not have been sitting here.”

Several BJP ministers have said the suggestion that EVMs could be rigged is laughable and such allegations only undermine the democratic process.