Integrity Score 585
No Records Found
No Records Found
By 360info
India's Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is coming under the spotlight as the country prepares for its general election.
There are fears about the fairness and openness of India’s voting system, with the previous unwavering faith in the country’s EVMs now in doubt.
The Indian Supreme Court will soon hear a plea seeking cross-verification of votes cast in EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
The potential for electronic voting machine hacking has cast a shadow over India’s democratic landscape. There is apprehension in some quarters that the devices can be manipulated.
The Opposition has directly alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi relies on EVM hacking to win elections. At a recent rally in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s largest opposition party, asserted: “The king’s (Modi’s) soul is in the EVM”.
Electoral processes have evolved significantly over time. Initially, voters used traditional ballot papers, manually writing candidates’ names and depositing them in designated boxes.
As India’s population grew and concerns about electoral fraud associated with ballot papers escalated, the People’s Representation Act was amended in 1989 to enable EVMs to prevent electoral fraud. In 1998, EVMs made their debut during legislative assembly elections. Their first use at a general election was in 2004.
This transition to voting machines underscores the nation’s commitment to modernising its electoral infrastructure, ensuring efficiency, transparency and integrity of the polling process.
Read Full Story https://theprobe.in/electoral-bonds/the-evm-debate-indias-evms-have-a-trust-problem-4485550