Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

  • March 9, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
No Comments

 

 

Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

TOPIC: Polity

Context- Ahead of the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP of “stealing” votes and claimed that his party workers intercepted a truck carrying EVMs in Varanasi.

Concept-

  • All available EVMs in a district are normally stored in a treasury or a warehouse under the direct control of the District Electoral Officer (DEO).
  • During a non-election period, EVMs cannot be moved out of the warehouse without specific instructions from the Election Commission.
  • During poll season, EVMs are allocated randomly to various Assembly segments through software in the presence of party representatives.
  • From this point, the Returning Officer (RO) of the Assembly segment takes charge of the allocated machines and stores them in designated strong rooms.
  • Here, the second round of randomisation takes place. EVMs are commissioned to specific polling stations in the presence of party representatives.

About EVMs:

  • The Election Commission in December, 1977 mooted the idea of EVM to overcome certain problems associated with use of ballot papers.
  • MB Haneefa invented the first Indian voting machine in 1980.
  • It was first used in 1981 in the by-election to North Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala.
  • The EVMs were commissioned in 1989 by Election Commission of India in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited.
  • The law was amended by the Parliament in December, 1988 and a new section 61A was inserted in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 empowering the Commission to use voting machines.
  • In 2004, in the General Election to the Lok Sabha, the EVMs (more than one million) were used in all 543 Parliamentary Constituencies in the country.

HISTORY OF EVM – 40 YEARS:

  • 1977: CEC- S. L. Shakdhar talked about introducing an Electronic machine.
  • 1980-81: EVMs developed and demonstrated by ECIL and BEL.
  • 1982-83: EVMs used first time in 50 polling stations of Parur AC in Kerala. And then in 11 Assembly Constituencies: 8 states, 1UT.
  • 1984: SC suspends EVM usage: cannot be used till RP Act is amended.
  • 1988: RP Act amended: enabling use EVMs wef 15.03.1989.
  • 2018: SC dismissed petition asking for return to Ballot papers!
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE (EVM) Polity