BSP leader Mayawati and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal have accused that the EVMs were tampered with in the UP and Punjab Assembly elections. What is the CPI(M) stand on EVMs?

S Rudrangshu, Kolkata

THE Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are a step better than the earlier manual voting system with ballot papers. Rigging of votes and booth capturing were easier in the old system.

Since the EVMs are stand alone machines and are not part of a central network, it is relatively less tamper proof. If an EVM is to be tampered with by placing a malware in the individual unit, it will require collusion at various levels of the administration and the election machinery.  Further, given the fact that the order of candidates on the ballot is decided only after the withdrawal of nominations and the final list is provided only a few days before to the concerned election officials, it is virtually impossible to tamper on a large scale in various booths. 

However, since suspicions and doubts were raised after various elections in the past, the CPI(M) took the stand that there should be some method to verify the vote cast by a voter.  At that time, there was no way a voter could know whether his or her vote was recorded correctly. After various discussions between the Election Commission and the political parties, it was decided that a paper trail should be maintained which records the votes cast in an EVM.

The paper audit trail will verify that the vote cast by a voter has actually been correctly recorded. It can also be used to tally the votes cast if there is any dispute or discrepancy due to malfunctioning or tampering. 

This Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was attached to the EVMs. This has been introduced only partially so far.  In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, as a pilot project, the VVPAT was introduced in eight parliamentary constituencies.  In the recent assembly election held in five states, EVMs fitted with the paper audit trail was used in all the assembly constituencies in Goa.

The Election Commission has promised that the EVMs with the paper audit trail can be put in place in all the parliamentary constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.  However, this is doubtful.  The Election Commission has stated that it has not received the funds required for fitting all EVMs with the VVPAT from the government.  Rs 3,100 crore would be required for this purpose.  The CPI(M) demands that the union government forthwith provide these funds to the Election Commission, so that all EVMs will have a paper audit trail.