Don’t believe rumours about EVMs: Election Commission tells voters

Bengaluru, Mar 27: Downplaying the experts’ warning over the possibility of the tampering of electronic voting machine, election officials have urged the voters to be wary of “rumours” being spread about the EVM functioning.

“EVMs cannot be tampered with and there are adequate technical and administrative safeguards in place. It is a proven machine being used since 1999 and it is highly secure,” Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said here during a workshop for media persons.

“In 2010, a professor in the U.S. stated that he can tamper with the machine. However, there is no connection with what he said and the EVMs.

His claims have been disproved. The Supreme Court has also allowed using of VVPATs,” he said.

For those who have doubts about the EVM and VVPAT machine not working well, he said: “Voters can give an application to the presiding officer after which the voter will be allowed to cast his vote. But this will be an open vote which will be watched by polling agents as well as officers. If the voter fails to prove his claim, he is liable to be imprisoned for six months.”

Citing three examples in the recent elections in Gujarat, he said that while three voters claimed that the votes shown in VVPAT differed from what they had opted for, only one came forward with the application. “After he failed to prove his claim, legal action has been initiated against him,” he said.