Even as the time for challenging the results of the recent Assembly elections in the respective High Courts has lapsed, the Election Commission is yet to come up with a schedule for its “open challenge” to experts and political parties to demonstrate how the electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be tampered with.
Various political parties have alleged that the EVMs used in the elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab were tampered with. Representatives of 16 parties had petitioned the President seeking his intervention. Countering the allegations, the EC has issued statements, asserting that the EVMs were tamper-proof.
In view of the widespread criticism, the Commission has decided to throw an open challenge inviting people to demonstrate how the tampering can be done. Asked about the event’s schedule, an EC official — on condition of anonymity — had earlier said that it would be finalised once the limitation period of 45 days for anyone to challenge the election results in the High Court was over. It expired on April 26.
Response to challenge
An EC source recently told The Hindu that the guidelines for the event were being framed in consultation with the EVM manufacturers. However, no public statement to this effect has been issued yet.
Last week, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told the media that the electoral body would first hold an all-party meeting to convince them that the machines were “non-tamperable and secured”.
After reports on EC’s plans to invite experts made the rounds, a group of eminent engineers and scientists wrote an open letter to Dr. Zaidi highlighting the issues involved.
More leeway for experts
The group, laying down certain conditions for testing, stated that experts be allowed to choose their instruments and access be provided for physical tampering of EVMs. They should be provided design documents and test descriptions and results, as well as information about the security procedures in place, for each generation of EVM currently in use.
The results obtained by each team examining the EVMs should be made public. Longer term testing by a team with in-depth expertise in computer security and voting system security should be performed, and its results should also be made public.
“The EC should note that it is virtually impossible, whatever the qualification of the individual examining the EVM, to determine with certainty that EVMs are tamper-proof. Electronic devices can be designed to detect when they are being tested, and it is practically impossible to test for every possible configuration and scenario,” said the group.
Hence, the letter said, if the EVM challenge does not detect a problem, this did not mean that election outcomes were guaranteed to be secure in the future; regular VVPAT audits could help address the issue.
