The Election Commission has thrown an open Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) challenge to political parties to prove that EVMs cannot be tampered, that will start from June 3.

The EC further asserted that the EVMs are tamper-proof. The announcement comes after a week after the EC threw down the gauntlet to political parties to prove that the EVM used in the recent assembly polls were tampered with.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, “The EVM challenge will start from June 3.”  Individuals who had questioned the reliability of EVMs have not yet submitted any proof or credible material to support their claim, said Zaidi. He further added that the replacement of the internal circuit of EVMs is not possible at all.

Zaidi said “Our EVMs have strong technological features and are tamper-proof.” He rubbished the claims of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that EVMs could be tampered with, and said no manipulation of the machines is possible.

Improving the election process is a responsibility of all stakeholders and the EC is taking all necessary steps in this regard, said Zaidi. Several major opposition parties had claimed that the faith of people in the machines has scraped away.

Allegations were made by the AAP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that the machines used in the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab were tampered with and favored the BJP. Later, several other parties had joined the chorus and waned the EC to revert to paper ballots.

The EC has already made an announcement that it will ensure paper trail of voting in all future elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

EC Demonstrates Successful Functioning Of EVMs, VVPATs

SUPRAJA