“Two months after I conducted the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, doubts were raised over EVMs. So, I called in all the experts and we studied every single aspect about EVMs for a couple of weeks. We assembled 100 EVMs in the Election Commission from random States. Then, we invited all the people who had doubts and asked them to hack it. At the end of it, Subramanian Swamy in his affidavit to the court said that he doesn't have a problem with the EVMs, but to give him the VVPAT (Voter verifiable paper audit trail). That’s where the VVPAT idea was born,” said Navin Chawla, former Chief Election Commissioner, speaking here on Monday.
In conversation with former Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi, about his book, Every Vote Counts: The Story of India's Elections , Mr. Chawla said, “The machine next to the EVM will show the serial number, symbol and name of the candidate. It will be on display for seven seconds. The Election Commission does a tally of all the votes in a booth in each constituency.”
Losers complain
He said it was unfortunate that doubts are cast over EVMs. “The trend I am seeing is that those who win immediately take out a victory procession. But some who lose, cast doubts. This has gained currency in recent times. But this issue, one way or the other, has gone to high courts at different times. The EVMs were used comprehensively in 2004. But even before, when they were used selectively, people have approached high courts. Until now, all high courts have stood by the machine. And now the matter is in the Supreme Court," said Mr. Chawla.
Mr. Gandhi said that the voters have confidence in the machine and the woman/man who is monitoring and operating the machine. “Nobody in India is going to doubt that the election machinery is going to do any manipulation,” he said. Mr. Chawla also said that India should think about public funding for elections.
