Skip to main content

EC under cloud post-Guj polls: Suspicion around EVMs exacerbates as insiders say it can be "compromised"

By Our Representative
Amidst growing fear that the Election Commission (EC) of India has reached "the lowest point" in its history, especially after TN Seshan, as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the first half of 1990s tried to turn in into "an independent institution", the smell of suspicion around EC appears to have exacerbated both among general public and sections of intellectuals, not excluding top officials, following the Gujarat polls.
Things have gone so far that it is not just maverick leader Hardik Patel, Patidar quota leader, who is ringing the alarm bell around the electronic voting machines (EVMs) having been compromised. While a large number of voters Counterview talked to during Gujarat polls wondered if EVMs were "reliable", a top Gujarat government insider went so far to tell Counterview that he has " checked" with software engineers who tell him that EVMs' functioning can be easily compromised hacked.
"I was told that all one needs to do is a small change in the software of the chip inserted into EVMs by just adding one line -- transfer a certain percentage of votes, say two or five or six, from one party to another", this insider said.
While the view that the EC has been "siding" with the Modi government has already many takers, including SY Quraishi, previous CEC, who called refusal to announce election dates for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in October an EC "error", insisting, it "invites questions" and "could undermine EC’s credibility", top psephologist Yogendra Yadav has said, Gujarat elections have "highlighted the growing fragility of EC."
According to him, "The inexplicable delay in the declaration of a polling schedule, double standards in responding to media coverage of Rahul Gandhi, and BJP leaders accentuated the suspicion that the EC has been packed with loyal officers", adding, "Besides shrinking autonomy, EC also suffers from lack of professionalism."
Accusing it of oscillating between "spinelessness and knee-jerk over-reach", and questioning the "quality of appointees", Yadav says, today EC "faces new challenges for which it is professionally ill-equipped: production and supervision of EVMs, regulation of social media, checking of tax accounts of political parties..."
Already, reports have appeared in a section of the media quoting one of the manufacturers of EVM chips, Microchip, as admitting that though its "products are among "the most secure... on the market today, ...dishonest and possibly illegal methods" could be used to "breach the code protection feature". Microchip insists, "Code protection does not mean that we are guaranteeing the product as unbreakable."
Meanwhile, a keen citizen has raised a major flutter around chief electoral officer, EC, BB Swain admitting during a media interaction that a "mismatch of some votes" on one booth each on four seats during the scrutiny of EVMs and Voter Verified Paper Trail (VVPATs) because of a human error by the Returning Officer was "resolved" by counting VVPAT slips.
Through a series of tweets, one Ravi Guatam (@gautamravi168) calculates, "There was mismatch between EVM and VVPAT slips on four out of 182 seats" in Gujarat state assembly, which suggests "more than 2% mismatch". Calling 2% vote share "questionable" because it is six lakh votes, Guatam says, for verification of EVMs "EC randomly selected one booth per seat for VVPAT slip counting".
He argues, "Why one booth per seat is illogical? On an average, 5,000 votes can change the result, i.e. votes from three booths. On an average, there were 275 booths/constituency", hence there was a huge "probability of detecting fraud", adding, "In general, the average victory margin in state assembly is 5,000-6,000 votes" and "the entire result can change within the error margin of the EVM system."
Noting that he has not talked of hacking, Gautam says, he has calculated that there would be "1,102 possible mismatched booths in 182 constituencies", which means "approximately six mismatched booths per constituency" because "one EVM can store around 3,800 votes."
"Assuming" on an average EVMs were half filled, the total number of questionable votes per seat would be 11,400, Guatam says, this is based on the the premise set by EC, which takes one booth per constituency as representative sample. But there are in all 50,128 booths, he says, adding, applying the mismatch to all would give the result: "Questionable booths = 4*50,128/182 = 1,102."
Gautam wonders, "EC accepted that there were 4 mismatch and used VVPAT slips for counting, but what about other 1,098 booths? The debate about democracy should be between citizens vs governments, not BJP vs Congress. Congress may not take this up seriously because it will put a question mark on their 80 seats in Gujarat election and Punjab victory."

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Hazrat Aisha’s age was 16, not 6: 'Weak' Hadith responsible for controversy

Sacred chamber where Prophet and Aisha used to live By Dr Mike Ghouse* Muslims must take the responsibility to end the age-old controversy about Hazrat Aisha’s age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet (pbuh) – it was 16, not 6 (minimum was 16, Max 23 per different calculations). The Hadiths published were in good faith, but no one ever checked their authenticity, and they kept passing on from scholar to scholar and book to book.  Thanks to 9/11, Muslims have started questioning and correcting the Hadiths, Seerah, and mistranslations of the Quran. Now, the Ulema have to issue an opinion, also known as Fatwa, to end it and remove those Hadith entries. Mustafa Akyol, a scholar of Islam, implores Muslims to stop deifying “the received traditions” and critically study their religious past, shedding rigid legalism and close-mindedness. Someone else used the phrase “copycat Muslims” to identify scholars who copied what was given to them and passed it on without researching or questioni