Is electronic voting machine not foolproof? 'Switch over to ballot box', says People's Union of Civil Liberties

By A Representative
Close on the heels of massive setback to the Congress in four states’ assembly elections, top human rights organization, Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which claims to “preserve the democratic values”, has made a controversial observation: That the electronic voting machine (EVM) is “not foolproof for free and fair polling process” and there is no sense in “rigidly sticking to it in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections”. Opining in favour of returning to the old ballot box voting system, the PUCL said, if this is not possible then it is not necessary to organize the forthcoming elections with the dual system of polling – voting through the EVM and the ballot box.
Asserting that the observation is based on an investigation by a group of experts – consisting of Rahul Mehta, who is B Tech in computer science, IIT Delhi , and MS in computer science, Rutgers, New Jersey State University; Balendu Vaghela, computer technologist from Rajkot; Raju Dipti, who are masters in engineering; and Mahesh Pandya, an environmental engineer -- the PUCL stated these members found the working of the EVMs faulting after scrutinized whether the EVMs being used in the election process in India immune or above any kind of doubts; whether the EVMs are technically satisfactory and defect-free or foolproof; and whether there is possibility of tampering with the EVMs on a large scale.
Without suggesting the EVMs in the latest assembly polls may have been “manipulated”, the PUCL claimed, this happened in the December 2012 elections to the Gujarat legislature, after which doubts about credibility of EVM were expressed from all over and we had also received wide ranging complaints. “Some complaints were based on the experience and some complaints were of such a nature that it was not possible to rationally and logically reply. Some complaints were based on the analysis of results but were having substance in them “, it added.
Suggesting that it in this backdrop that the experts were asked to look into the veracity of the EVMs, the PUCL said, the findings and recommendation put forth by them were:
“(1) The EVM method is such that even the voter does not know in whose favor he is casting his vote. Hence for free and just polling, it is inevitable to go back to the system of voting by the back to ballot.
“(2) The fact that the Election Commission has admitted that there is scope for improvement in the present system, proves that the system is not foolproof.
(3) Every citizen of the country has a right to know whether the polling process being carried on by the autonomous body such as Election Commission is impartial, credible and foolproof or not. In this context, when these questions are raised at different stages, instead of giving clear and proper replies, the Election Commission is giving round-about and defensive replies.”
Wondering why the Election Commission is not ready and willing to offer EVMs for scientific scrutiny by impartial experts in the electronic field, knowledgeable persons in this line and other experts to prove that the same are tamper-proof and foolproof and thus to prove its credibility and answerability, the PUCL says, “In the countries such as Germany and other countries, governments have indeed done this.” It adds, “Many countries of the world do not consider the EVM as reliable. Then why is there adamant and stubborn insistence for its use in India?”
The PUCL said, “The study of EVM was carried out for California State of America. On seeing that the result was negative, ban on use of EVM for election purposes was imposed by the California government. Not only in California, use of EVM was banned in 21 other states of America. This has also been the case in Europe and other countries from where India had learned of this kind of method. These countries are also opposing it then we must learn from it and it is inevitable for us to go back to the polling by back to ballot paper method.”
The PUCL further said, “When a case was filed in the Supreme Court against the Election Commission by raising doubts about credibility of the EVM, then later on, the Election Commission admitted and confessed about the defect and advanced a contention/ claim that new types of EVMs have been got ready. But to bring the same into implementation and looking to the need of the time, energy and finances there does not appear to be any possibility of using it during the parliamentary elections for 2014.”
The statement was released by Gautam Thaker, general secretary, PUCL, Gujarat. It is not known if the central PUCL agrees with this view. When queried, Thaker said, “We are trying to convince the national PUCL leaders about what we believe on EVM.”

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Counterview

Search This Blog