EVMs are tamper proof: Former BEL official

Bengaluru: BSP leader Mayawati’s allegation about rigging of electronic voting machine (EVM) during elections to the Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is a case of old allegations revisited as an experts committee has declared that they are tamper resistant, says Colonel H S Shankar, former Director (R&D),  Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), and a member of the team which designed and developed these machines.

“EVMs are the pride of our country, and have served the Indian electorate in several elections. They cannot be tampered with. It is a pity that Ms Mayawati has attributed the defeat of her party in recent elections to tampering of EVMS,” he said recalling how similar complaints by the late prime minister V P Singh and late chief minister J Jayalalithaa were probed, and found to be untrue.

In fact, before the commencement of polling, each polling officer has been instructed by the Election Commission to demonstrate the process of  voting and lock the EVM in the presence of representatives of all candidates.

Ditto at the end of polling when the official presses the “close” button to lock the machine with the number of votes polled.  “A unique serial number of the EVM is validated automatically before the commencement of operations. Any mismatches detected, being evidence of tampering, renders the system unusable,” he added.