New EVMs to be ‘inoperable’ if tampering is attempted: EC
The AAP had alleged that the authorities in Punjab had refused to accept its demand to tally results with a paper trail audit.
New Delhi: The Election Commission Sunday strongly castigated the Aam Aadmi Party for alleging tampering with electronic voting machines in Punjab, asking it to file a petition in the state high court if it wants to verify the votes cast in the recent polls, while it said it was all set to buy next-generation EVMs that become “inoperable” the moment any attempts are made to tinker with them.
“The AAP is free to file an election petition in the state high court if it wants to verify votes cast in the Punjab polls with data of paper trail,” the EC said in a strongly-worded letter to the party. The letter said it was for the AAP to introspect why it could not perform according to its expectations and that it was unfair for it to attribute an unsatisfactory performances to the alleged tamperability of EVMs.
The AAP had alleged that the authorities in Punjab had refused to accept its demand to tally results with a paper trail audit. The party had moved the commission over the reliability of the machines and the Punjab poll results.
The EC said, meanwhile, that it was all set to buy next-generation EVMs that become inoperable when attempts are made to tinker with them. The “M3”-type EVMs also have a self-diagnostic system for authentication of the genuineness of the machines. These come with a public key interface-based mutual authentication system. Following this, only a genuine EVM “communicates” with other EVMs in the field.
A sum of Rs 1,940 crores is needed to procure the new machines, that are likely to be introduced by 2018, a year before the next Lok Sabha polls, the law ministry said, quoting details made available by the EC to be given to Parliament.
The commission has decided to replace 9,30,430 EVMs purchased before 2006 as the older machines near their 15-year life cycle.
Last year, the Union Cabinet approved a fresh tranche of Rs 1,009 crores for the Election Commission to buy new EVMs so that it can phase out the ageing ones before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Cabinet also authorised the Election Commission to vary the quantity to be ordered from BEL and ECIL based on their production capacity and past performance.