Economic Times: New Delhi: Wednesday, August 16, 2017.
Information accessed under Right to Information (RTI) Act is once again fuelling
questions about security of electronic voting machines (EVMs), which are at the
centre of a debate on tamper-proof technology.
The Election
Commission of India, however, has brushed aside all such suggestions and maintained
that it follows strict protocol to guard EVMs, and once looted, these machines are
condemned and never find their way back into the system.
Information
provided by the Election Commission under RTI has revealed at least 70 cases of
theft of EVM across three states Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over
successive elections.
In Gujarat, a
case dating back to 2007 has revealed an instance where during a training programme,
the trainer handed over the EVMs to another person and went for lunch. According
to information provided under RTI, “When he returned, the machine was found missing.”
Investigation is on in the matter and lie detector tests have also been
conducted.
So far, the
main contention of the Election Commission on claims of EVM tampering has been
that a machine has to be accessed for it to be tampered. Speaking to ET,
Election Commission’s deputy commissioner, Sudeep Jain, said, “The referred
cases (except Gujarat) are cases of loot during election from polling stations
and not thefts. EVMs were looted from the polling booths by naxalites/
miscreants with plausible ulterior motive to vitiate the election process. In
all such cases, due process of law is being followed. However, these cases do
not riase any doubt or caste any aspersion on the stringent administrative and
security measures being followed for the safe custody, storage and use of EVMs/
VVPATs during the election, as well as nonelection period.”
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