No reason to doubt EVMs, EC tells Mayawati

Reacting to Mayawati’s allegation that the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) were tampered with, the Election Commission on Saturday dismissed the Bahujan Samaj Party chief’s allegations as utterly “baseless,” saying that all EVMs go through a robust process of scrutiny.

Stung by her worst-ever defeat in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Mayawati had blamed the EVMs 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. 

“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.

The EVMs have to pass first level Test called the FLC. It takes place four months before the elections are to be held. 

Representatives of all political parties and media persons 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.