'Baseless allegations': EC slams Mayawati after she blames EVM tampering for loss in UP

Reacting to Mayawati’s allegation that the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) were tampered with, the Election Commission of India on Saturday dismissed the BSP supremo’s allegations as utterly “baseless,” as all EVMs go through a robust process of scrutiny. Badly stung by her worst ever defeat in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Mayawati had blamed the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) for the BSP’s poor showing. At a hurriedly called press conference in Lucknow she had challenged the winner - the BJP - and the Election Commission to show courage and get fresh elections done with ballot papers. However, the Election Commission said Mayawati’s allegations were baseless as all EVMs go through a robust process of scrutiny.

“All the EVMs are made to go through tough scrutiny at several stages to ensure that they are in perfect working condition and are showing the right results. They are nothing more than an improved version of a calculator and cannot be tampered with,” said a senior EC official.

"All the EVMs go through first level Test called the FLC. It takes place four months before the elections are to be held. Representatives of all political parties and mediapersons are invited to check the EVMs in the presence of election officials. They are asked to randomly pick EVMs and check them by pressing buttons on the panel and see if the EVMs are showing the right result. Once all parties are satisfied, the EVMs are placed in the strongroom under sealed lock with signatures from all the representatives. The second level Test or the SLT takes place at the time when all political parties have filed nominations and declared their candidates for seats. “Similar process is repeated in the SLT also. Signatures are taken from all the political representatives before locking the EVMs in a sealed strongroom,” says the official.

The third level test called the mock poll is done just an hour before the actual poll. Here, representatives of all the candidates from particular constituency are called and asked to check EVMs at the respective polling booths in the presence of media that have passes issued by the EC. Every representative is asked to press 10 buttons and is shown printed results that should match with his mock voting. Once it is done and political parties are satisfied, each EVM is sealed with the signatures of the representatives.

Immediately after the polling is over, the EVMs are again sealed with signatures and taken in a strongroom under police protection. The strongroom is again verified and sealed with signatures of political parties’ representatives. On the day of counting, the strongroom is opened in the presence of representatives of political parties at 8 a.m. and is taken to the counting centre amid police barricading and the counting begins after checking the seal of each EVM. “These elaborate checks leave no doubt of the fairness of EVM. They are an independent machine that cannot be attached to any other instrument or a Wi-Fi. It is simply an improved version of a calculator that counts votes one by one,” adds the official.

The official, however, said that the process of introducing VVPAT (Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail) will make the voting process more robust. In VVPAT enabled EVMs, a voter is able to see on a printed sheer of paper if the vote has gone to the respective candidate whose button he or she had pressed. “The VVPATs are kept intact for a period of 45 days during which a candidate or party can approach the court if they have serious doubt about the fairness of the election,” says the EC official.