EVM – The first time I heard this word was in early school days when we had this question about EVM full form in the textbook, and the answer was Electronic Voting Machine. Years passed by and I was waiting for the day when I’d be an adult and will be casting my vote through that EVM. By the time I grew up, the ambience had changed. It was time to question EVM’s credibility. Doubts like can EVM machine be hacked or manipulated or tampered had clouded everyone.
Luckily, EVM machine hack case in the Supreme Court helped clear the clouds and finally attempted at reinstating faith in Electronic Voting Machines among the people of India. The Court selectively discussed the process right from EVM manufacturing in India, going by the pre-poll phase, polling and counting day. Here, we are sharing the discussion over EVM credibility in functioning as per the Supreme Court verdict on EVM VVPAT.
EVM Manufacturing Company
EVMs are manufactured in India and supplied to the ECI by two PSUs – Bharat Electronics Limited (functions under the Ministry of Defence) and Electronic Corporation of India Limited (functions under the Department of Atomic Energy).
How does EVM work in India?
The Division Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India & Anr explained that an EVM has 3 units – ballot unit, control unit and VVPAT. The ballot unit acts as a keyboard/keypad containing 16 buttons/keys. One of the keys is pressed by the voter while exercising his/her right to vote.The serial numbers, candidate names and symbols of political parties/candidates are physically pasted on the ballot unit enabling voters to identify corresponding key/button against the respective candidate and symbol.
The control/master unit remains with the polling/presiding officer. Before a voter can use a ballot unit, the polling officer has to press the ‘BALLOT’ button on the control unit, enabling cast of vote by such voter. After pressing the blue button and casting of vote, an LED button glows in red against the candidate the vote is cast, and the control unit sends command to the VVPAT. The VVPAT prints the slip containing the serial no., candidate name and symbol. The slip thereafter displays through the glass window, illuminated for 7 seconds for verification by voters. The VVPAT slip gets cut from the roll, falls into the box/compartment attached to it, and a confirmation is sent to the control unit with the help of a fall sensor in the VVPAT, which in turn records the vote.
The control unit has burnt memory which does not have candidate names or symbols. The data stored in the control unit, records and counts the button or the key pressed on the ballot unit. It records the total number of votes cast by voters. After the vote is cast and the control unit has recorded the vote, a loud beep sound confirms the registration of the vote.
Inside the Electronic Voting Machines
Can EVM machines be hacked?
The EVMs in use since 201 are ‘M3’ EVMs, and the units are standalone and non-networked, unconnected to any third-party machine/input source. In case of unauthorised attempts to access the microcontroller or EVM memory, the Unauthorised Access Detection Mechanism (UADM) permanently disables such attempts. The advanced encryption techniques and strong mutual authentication or reception capability rules out the deciphering of communication between the EVM units and any unauthorised interaction with the EVM.
At the time of manufacture, programme loaded in EVM is key hashed, burnt into a One Time Programmable microcontroller chip to dispel any possibility of tampering. All three EVM units have microcontrollers in which the respective firmware is burnt, which is unalterable and cannot be modified after the EVM is delivered/supplied by the manufacturer to ECI. Each key press is recorded with a date and time stamp on a real time basis. The control unit only recognises the button/key pressed on the ballot unit. The control unit has a capacity to store up to 2000 vote entries.
Inside VVPAT
In addition, the VVPAT has flash memory of 4 megabytes, designed to solely store and recognise a bitmap format files containing symbol,serial no. and candidate name. That means one candidate name, symbol and serial no. is packed in 1 bitmap file of 4 kilobytes. VVPAT does not store or read any other software or firmware. The VVPAT flash memory is empty and does not contain any symbol or name related details at the time of supply/delivery to the ECI. VVPATs in this form/state are stored in warehouses. The control units and ballot units are also stored and secured in the warehouses.
Pre-Election EVM Checks
5-6 months before national/state elections, the required no. of EVMs is taken out from warehouses and stored in designated strong rooms. The EVMs are then subjected to First Level Check (FLC) at district levels by the engineers of EVM manufacturing company in the presence of representatives of recognised political parties and under the supervision of the District Election Officer.
Electronic Voting Machine Function Testing
During FLC, all the machines are checked by casting a vote in each of the 16 buttons on the ballot unit 6 times. In addition, 5% machines are randomly picked by political party representatives for a higher mock poll by them. Of the 5% random picks, 1200 votes are cast in 1%, 1000 votes in 2% and 500 votes are cast in the remaining 2% EVMs. The results are tallied with VVPAT slip count. A list of FLC OK EVMs is prepared and shared with all political parties. Thereafter, the control unit of each EVM is sealed with a pink paper seal signed by the political representatives. Following this, the plastic cabinet of EVMs cannot be opened, there is no access to any of the EVM components, the VVPAT flash memory is empty and it lacks any data or symbols.
EVM Demonstration and Randomisation
10% of the ‘FLC OK’ EVMs are taken out for training and awareness purposes in the presence of the recognised political parties, and the list of such units is also shared with political parties. These units are stored separately in a designated warehouse. EVM demonstration centres are set up at the District Election Office, and at the Returning Officer Headquarter/ Revenue Sub-Division Offices. Mobile demonstration vans are also deployed to cover all polling locations.
The EVMs used for training and awareness are not mingled but taken back to the designated warehouse. The verified EVMs also undergo a two-stage randomisation process without any human intervention, with the help of EVM Management System software application in the presence of political party representatives and Central Observers deputed by the Election Commission of India. While first randomisation is done for Assembly constituency/segment-wise allocation of Electronic Voting Machine. The second randomisation is done polling station wise and for the reserve pool.
Candidate Details in Electronic Voting Machine
By the time of twin-randomisation, the particulars of candidates or political parties are not loaded in the VVPAT, and the flash memory is blank. Almost 10-15 days prior to poll dates, symbol loading process is undertaken by using the symbol loading units. Symbols are loaded in VVPATs’ flash memory in the form of a bitmap file comprising of symbol of political party/candidate, serial number and candidate name. A laptop/PC with the symbol loading application is used to create a bitmap file comprising the serial number, the candidate name and symbol. This file is loaded on VVPAT units by using the symbol loading units. Authorised engineers of EVM manufacturing company and the District Election Officer are involved in the symbol loading process. Again, the whole process is done in the presence of the candidates or their representatives and a monitor/TV screen displays the symbol loading process.
Allocation of EVM Keys for Candidates
A specific button/key on the ballot unit is allocated to each candidate in alphabetical order based on name, first for National and State recognised political parties, then State registered parties and then independent candidates. The sequence varies among constituencies.
Since there are 16 buttons/keys in each ballot unit, in case the number of candidates exceeds 15 (1 for NOTA), more ballot units are attached to the control unit, which can be 24 at a time to make a single EVM set. It further means that 384 candidates (including NOTA) can be catered by the EVM. After this, all the Electronic Voting Machines including VVPATs are checked by casting a vote pressing on button against each candidate and NOTA. A higher mock poll is also conducted in 5% random units which may be selected by candidates or their representatives, 1000 votes are cast and electronic result is tallied with the VVPAT slip count.
Following this, the EVM ballot unit is sealed with thread or plain paper seals, and symbol loaded VVPATs are sealed with address tags containing signatures of political representatives. The EVM still remains blank. The symbol loading process undertaken by using the symbol loading unit cannot alter or modify the programme/firmware in the VVPAT which has been burnt/loaded in the memory, since control and ballot unit remain untouched.
Polling Day
On the date of polls, the polling officer takes out the EVMs 1.5 hours before start of polls, conducts a mock poll of 50 votes which are electronically counted along with VVPAT slips. Each unit is sealed again with a paper seal of different colour, also signed by candidates/their representatives. The paper seals have a serial number and colour for different stages having security features which cannot be replicated.
Every elector is permitted to vote in secrecy in the voting compartment of the polling station. No elector is permitted to enter the voting compartment when another voter is inside. When casting a vote by pressing a button on the ballot unit, the VVPAT glass window illuminates showing the name, serial no. and symbol of the candidate voted showing on the display for 7 seconds. The VVPAT slip display assures recording of the vote cast. The VVPAT printer cuts the slip from the roll and the VVPAT slip drops in the box compartment of the VVPAT. The control unit records the serial number of the button/key pressed on the ballot unit by each voter. The presiding officer has to periodically check the total no. of votes cast and data recorded in Form 17A (which contains the signature/thumb impression of voters against their names).
Post-Poll Security of EVM
At the end of polling, EVM units are sealed and stored in the strong room in the presence of candidates/their representatives. They are also allowed to put their seals on the lock of the strong room which is guarded by at least one platoon of armed security having CCTV coverage. The candidates/their representatives are allowed to stay and watch the strong room. In case the strong room entrance is not visible, CCTV display facility is provided.
The VVPAT paper slips are in a roll of 1500 slips. The control unit can store up to 2000 votes. In view of the restriction on the number of VVPAT paper slips, each EVM can be used for casting up to 1500 votes. The control unit is configured in a way that each vote would take about 15 seconds, making it only 4 votes per minute to prevent and check bogus voting.
Vote Counting
At the end of polling day, the presiding officer by pressing the ‘TOTAL’ key on the control unit can ascertain the total number of votes recorded in the control unit and has to keep a record. The break up of votes cast in favour of each candidate remains unknown by this time. On Counting day, the ‘RESULT’ key on the control unit is pressed, which displays the number of times each button/key was pressed on polling day. The EVMs are standalone machines which cannot be connected to the internet, and lack any ports to enable anyone to access the burnt memory.
Before beginning with vote count, the serial number of EVMs and the paper seals affixed on EVMs are verified with details mentioned in Form 17C. The total of votes is also tallied. The counting is done in the presence of polling agents/candidates by pressing the ‘RESULT’ button on the control unit. The votes polled in total and the total votes polled by each candidate is displayed on the panel. The VVPAT slips of five polling stations per assembly constituency/assembly segment of the parliamentary constituency, are randomly selected and counted and results are tallied with electronic results.
Following ECI guidelines, if there is a mismatch in total number of votes recorded in the control unit and Form 17C due to non-clearance of mock poll data or VVPAT slips, the printed VVPAT slips of said polling stations are counted and considered if the winning margin is equal to or less than total votes polled in such polling stations.
For better understanding, you can also watch this video shared by the Election Commission of India – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJReQ8ao0SU
Frequent Questions about Electronic Voting Machines
Q- When was EVM used first in India?
A- EVMs were first used in an assembly bye-election in Kerala in 1982. Additionally, the EVM’s were for the first time used during General Elections in 2004.
Q- Who manufactures EVM in India?
A- Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronic Corporation of India Limited are the two PSUs responsible for manufacturing EVMs in India.
Q- What happened in EVM machine hack case in the Supreme Court?
A- The Supreme Court upheld the credibility of EVM VVPAT against any hacking or malfunctioning.
Q- Does EVM machine run on electricity connections?
A- No, EVMs run on battery backup which are assembled by EVM manufacturing company.
