EVM Tampering Row: 10 Steps to Secure Them

New Delhi: AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj ‘demonstration’ in Delhi Assembly on Tuesday that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with has again reignited a debate around the machines.

The Election Commission of India, on the other hand has asserted that EVMs are fool-proof and undergo several stages of checks to ensure they are un-tampered.

Here are 10 stages of security that EVMs go through:

Stage 1

- Before every election, a first level checking (FLC) is done for every EVM by the engineers of the manufacturers in the presence of political parties’ representatives.

Stage 2

- Manufacturers certify at the time of FLC that all components in the EVM are original.

Stage 3

- After this, the plastic cabinet of control unit of the evm is sealed using a “pink paper seal”, which is signed by representatives of political parties and stored in strong rooms.

- Additionally, at the time of FLC, at least 1000 votes are cast by the representatives of political parties on 5%of EVMs randomly selected by them.

Stage 4

- After this stage, the plastic cabinet of control unit of the EVMs cannot be opened. There is no access to any component of inside of EVMs.

Stage 5

- Stored EVMs are randomized by computer software twice in the presence of candidates or their representatives.

Stage 6

- Candidates are allowed to conduct mock at the time of candidate setting& before the actual poll on the poll day.

Stage 7

- Post candidate setting, the ballot unit of the EVM is sealed with thread/pink paper seals which also bear signatures of representatives of political parties

Stage 8

- On the poll day, a mock poll by casting at least 50 votes is conducted at every polling station in the presence of the representatives of the candidates/polling agents.

Stage 9

- Post mock poll, another thread seal and green paper seals are put on the evm to block access to all buttons on the evm, except those, which are used for the conduct of poll.

Stage 10

- The strong rooms where EVMs are stored, for counting are also sealed and watched round the clock.

Source: ECI