EC plans EVM demonstrations to show it is tamper-proof

8,000 machines to be put up across the State to dispel doubts among citizens

To put an end to sceptics raising doubts about the possibility of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the office of the Chief Electoral Officer will conduct a massive demonstration of the voting gadget across the State.

Sanjiv Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer for Karnataka, has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) requesting 8,000 machines that would be put up across the State in major colleges, universities, malls, and even workplaces so that it can be demonstrated to a wider audience.

“The machines that will be used in Karnataka are an improvised version of the regular EVM. Similar machines were used in the recent Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls. There is no way they can be tampered with as the machine maintains a paper record of each vote cast through Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT),” Mr. Kumar told

The Hindu on Thursday.

“The use of VVPAT, along with EVMs, at all polling stations should put an end to questions on whether the EVMs can be tampered with. We will demonstrate the use of the machines for the media, political parties, intellectuals, decision makers in society, officials, and even students, to prove the authenticity,” Mr. Kumar said. “We are waiting for the machines to arrive and will start the demonstration in the next two weeks,” he said.

Pointing out that the ECI is of the firm view that EVMs cannot be tampered with, Mr. Kumar said: “There were no discrepancies during the Gujarat polls with the use of these machines. This is because every vote punched in the machine can be verified by the voter through a glass window on the top. Those who are ill-informed are raising these doubts. We have planned this demonstration ahead of elections to put to rest all doubts and speculations about EVMs. This is the first time that such an exercise is being conducted,” Mr. Kumar added. On a query on the hacking of EVMs, Mr. Kumar said it cannot be done as these are standalone machines and not connected to the internet or any other network at any point of time during polling.