ELECTION AND VOTING PROCESS

2. The Evolution of the Voting Process

• In the inaugural two general elections of 1952 and 1957, a distinct box was designated for each candidate alongside their election symbol. Voters were required to deposit a blank ballot paper into the box corresponding to the candidate of their choice. Subsequently, starting from the third election, the ballot paper featuring the names of candidates and their symbols was introduced, with voters marking their choice by stamping the candidate's name.
• The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) made its debut on a trial basis in 1982 in the Assembly constituency of Paravur, Kerala. Its full deployment across all booths occurred during the Assembly elections of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal in 2001. The Supreme Court, through various judgments, has consistently upheld the validity of utilizing EVMs in elections. By the 2004 general elections to the Lok Sabha, EVMs were operational in all 543 constituencies.
• In the case of Subramanian Swamy versus the Election Commission of India (2013), the Supreme Court emphasized that a paper trail is an essential prerequisite for ensuring free and fair elections. The 2019 elections witnessed the use of EVMs with 100% Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) coverage in all constituencies.

3. International Voting Practices

• Numerous Western democracies maintain the tradition of utilizing paper ballots for their electoral processes. Countries such as England, France, The Netherlands, and the United States have opted out of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for national or federal elections following trials conducted in the past two decades.
• In Germany, the nation's Supreme Court declared the use of EVMs in elections unconstitutional in 2009.
• While some countries like Brazil continue to employ EVMs for their elections, others have chosen not to adopt them.
• Among our neighbouring countries, Pakistan does not utilize EVMs. Bangladesh experimented with EVMs in a few constituencies in 2018 but reverted to paper ballots for the general elections held in 2024.

4. Features of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)

1. They have effectively curbed booth capturing by restricting the rate of vote casting to four votes per minute, thus prolonging the time required for any attempt to stuff false votes.
2. EVMs have eliminated the issue of invalid votes, which was a common problem with paper ballots and often led to disputes during the counting process.
3. Considering the substantial size of our electorate, which is close to one billion, the use of EVMs is environmentally friendly as it reduces paper consumption.
4. EVMs provide administrative convenience for polling officers on election day and have streamlined the counting process, making it faster and more accurate.

• Several mechanisms are in place to ensure the integrity of the EVM and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) process. These include the random allocation of EVMs to booths before polls, the conduct of mock polls to verify the accuracy of EVMs and VVPATs before the actual polling begins, and the sharing of the serial numbers of EVMs along with the total votes polled with agents of candidates to verify the count during the vote counting process.
• Despite these advantages, doubts about the functioning of EVMs have been raised by various political parties and civil society activists over time.
• The most common allegation is that EVMs are susceptible to hacking due to being electronic devices.
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has repeatedly clarified that EVMs are standalone devices, similar to calculators, with no connectivity to external devices, making them immune to external hacking attempts.
• Currently, the sample size for matching the EVM count with VVPAT slips is five per assembly constituency/segment, which is not based on any scientific criteria and may fail to detect defective EVMs during counting.
• Moreover, the present process allows for the identification of booth-wise polling behaviour by various parties, which can lead to profiling and intimidation.

• In a transparent democracy, every citizen should be able to understand and verify each step of the election process without requiring specialized technical knowledge.
• The widespread use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) has empowered voters to confirm that their votes are accurately recorded.
• However, to enhance the robustness of the entire process and ensure that votes are accurately counted, several additional measures can be adopted.
• Instead of the impractical and scientifically unfeasible 100% match of EVM count with VVPAT slips, a more systematic approach can be implemented.
• Experts suggest dividing each state into larger regions and determining a scientifically sound sample size for matching the EVM count with VVPAT slips.
• In case of any discrepancy, even in a single instance, the VVPAT slips for the respective region should be fully counted, forming the basis for determining results. This approach would imbue the counting process with statistically significant confidence.
• Furthermore, to provide additional protection for voters at the booth level, the introduction of "totalizer" machines could be considered. These machines would aggregate votes from 15-20 EVMs before revealing the candidate-wise count, offering a layer of anonymity and security for voters.