A Vote for the EVM

 I was in Port Blair when the elections in Karnataka were declared.  I connected with my friend and asked him what he thinks of the political developments in the state, and who had the best chance to win.  “It will be Congress this time”, he declared with conviction.  “Are you sure? Every time the PM addresses the rallies, the support for the other parties drop, don’t you think?”, I asked, playing the devil’s advocate.  “The only way it can lose is by EVM manipulation”, he said brusquely.

Karnataka elections have just got over and the results are out too.  Congress has secured a thumping majority – belying all the opinion polls and exit polls, barring a few- like my friend -  who had predicted a comfortable victory for the Grand Old Party.  During the entire election process, and until the results were not out, the Opposition Parties (the ruling party in the state was the BJP) were making noises regarding the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines, for the uninitiated), and how they could not be trusted, and how the ruling party might manipulate the results to suit its agenda.  I hope that the election results in Karnataka would reinforce some faith in the EVMs across the political parties.  It is particularly important since in the next one year, many state elections as also the general elections will be held. 

Come every election, there are noises about the EVMs.  Be it the National General Election, or the Assembly Elections in any state.  Ever since the BJP won the 2014 elections, and almost every other election thereafter, the clamour for banning the EVMs (or questioning their integrity) has been only growing.  There are suspicions that they can be hacked or tweaked to vote for a desired party.  Many stories of the ruling party people possessing EVMs during the elections have done the rounds in the media.  Some of the people who had posted anti-EVM stories have been arrested and put behind bars, making the opposition parties cry foul even more loudly.  The clarifications by the EC have only made the accusations shriller – especially when the results have not been to the liking of the parties.

The grumbling against the EVMs is not new.  Nor was it the INC or the TMC that accused the EVMs of their bias.  It was in fact, GVL Narasimha Rao, erstwhile spokesperson of the BJP, that first blamed the EVMs for the victories of the then UPA.  He even wrote a tome on the perils and pitfalls of EVMs called, Democracy at Risk. 

Cut back to the days when the EVMs didn’t exist. Elections weren’t an easy process. The EC wasn’t as well known either. Rigging and booth capturing were common phenomena. There were too many incidents of booth capturing, antisocial elements ruling the elections and the counting was an arduous task. Not a single election went by wherein there were no large-scale riots and rigging reported, in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There would be countermanding of elections in constituencies, or revisiting of voting process in some booths. Many states have a long history of criminals turning politicians and getting elected to the Assembly and the Parliament, many times with the blessings of the political parties.  Deaths were only incidental - in both rioting and firing. Then the election reforms happened.

Introduction of EVM along with the process of the EC growing teeth and fangs since the time of TN Seshan has ensured elections becoming a peaceful process. Elections are held in phases as against all constituencies and states voting on the same day. Paramilitary and police forces are deployed and are made accountable for the security. Election observers – both General and Expenditure Observers - have been empowered to take their task seriously. EVMs ensure booth capturing isn’t easy and they have simplified counting. The entire counting process which would earlier take days today gets completed in less than half a day, and most times, counting is not challenged by the candidates as either faulty or biased. Also, the number of votes that would go waste because of faulty marking on ballot paper is a thing of the past. Overall, the electoral atmosphere has changed for the better in India in the last two decades.

There is clamour today by most opposition parties to return to the ballot paper - in view of allegations against the EVMs. One of the reasons they quote is that even developed nations do not trust EVMs and they use ballot paper.

I do not believe this is the way ahead for us. True there are question marks about the performance of the EVMs, the fears of tampering, faulty functioning, etc. Add to this, the suspicions of the Opposition Parties regarding the bias of the Election Commission itself. There have been allegations that the Election Commissioners are biased in favour of the ruling party, when electoral malpractices are reported during elections.  Should these be reasons to junk them and return to paper? Surely not.

In a country like ours where law enforcement is one of the biggest concerns and lumpen elements are common in electioneering and across the entire political spectrum, returning to the ballot paper would be the biggest blow to free, fearless and fair elections. It would be inviting the dark days to return to the mainstage all over again. Just because we have a problem with the EVMs (and also partly many of us are not in agreement with the election results across the country in the last few years) we should not dismiss their utility.

EVMs are simple, non-intelligent devices - like a calculator. And hence may not be hackable. However, they can be faulty, develop snags, misbehave, etc. The EC should consult experts and put in place a quality control mechanism with respect to the EVMs, and implement this in a manner that screams transparency and eliminate doubts from the minds of the political parties.  Also, ensuring that the EVMs go through an independent, third party certification process would reinstate the faith in not just political parties but the entire electorate too. 

There are genuine troubles too with the EVMs that most parties are not raising. One such issue is: it’s easy to go down to the booth level and find out who voted for which Party. The most important axiom of an election is that the vote and the voter’s right is sacrosanct; and the exercise of franchise while is fundamental, must also stay anonymous.  During the erstwhile paper ballot system, all the ballots would be mixed together to ensure voter anonymity.  This practice has not been able to be implemented thus far with the EVMs.  The anonymity of the voter and her vote has now become a myth. Since EVMs are deployed at booth level, it is possible to know the number of votes that has flown to a particular party and thus This is a concern that needs to be addressed pronto. This also has resulted in certain political parties take advantage and target voters accordingly. Either through carrots or sticks. The EC should devise a mechanism to anonymise the votes, ensure fairness, and reinforce freedom of choice.

Democracy depends on the exercise of one’s voting right in a free manner.  And for that the EVM must stay. Regardless of anyone’s biased opinion.