Election Commission of India A State-of-the-Art, User Friendly and Tamper Proof Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

Presentation The Genesis Concerns Remedies EVM Advantages Concept, Challenge, Solution Concerns Remedies EVM Technological Features Description Operation Polling, Closing, Counting & Results Advantages Statistics of Interest

Genesis - Concept Idea mooted by the Chief Election Commissioner in 1977 Pros and cons of E-voting vis-à-vis ballot paper analysed by High Power Committees Recommended E-voting to save avoidable and recurring expenditure on printing, storage, transportation and security of Ballot Paper to the exchequer Top: Ballot paper awaiting despatch Bottom: EVMs in store room

Genesis - Challenge Evolve a machine which would fit into the existing Election Procedure Appear familiar to the voter Addressing the skepticism of the Political Parties and Intelligentsia including Press Evolving a machine and a procedure which would be transparent and acceptable to all Top: Ballot box being carried to the polling station Bottom: EVMs being carried to the polling station

Genesis - Solution Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) a leading Public Sector Company engaged in the design and manufacture of professional electronics was commissioned to design a machine to prove the feasibility Once feasibility was established, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) a second Public Sector Company was co-opted into the exercise Voters waiting to cast their vote

Genesis - Solution Voting the Ballot box way Both the companies (ECIL & BEL) brought out models with a common User Interface in 1980 The machines were extensively tried out at locations across the country Publicity campaigns were run in the press and other media Seminars conducted by Election Commission of India in various forums Feedback obtained used to fine-tune the machine Voting the EVM way

Concerns How secure is the data ? Can the data be tampered with ? How does the machine operate in remote areas without electric power ? What happens if the power fails in the middle of the voting process ? Can the data be stored long enough to be used as evidence in a court of law in case of electoral disputes ? Top: EVM being demonstrated to the press Middle: EVM being demonstrated to VIPs Bottom: Address to the press on EVMs

Remedies All mechanical, electrical and software security features are provided to ensure the integrity of the voting data It is independent of mains power and operates on a special power pack It is tamper-proof and error free It incorporates a microprocessor that has ‘burnt-in’ software code which cannot be altered or retrieved All the data is recorded on non-volatile dual redundant memory chips and can be retained for over 6 months even when the power pack is removed Counting Ballot paper way Counting - EVM way

EVM – Technology Features Centres around state-of-the-art microprocessor with built-in PROM storing the software code which cannot be retrieved or altered Reliable, robust and error free software Legacy software with machine codes used to preserve integrity and security Double redundant resilient memory storage for securely retaining data without a need for a backup battery User friendly operation sequence Portable and easy to operate Custom made to fit into the existing pattern

EVM – Technology Features Provision is made on all the sub-units for sealing to ensure that the units are not tampered with Each EVM can cater to a maximum of 64 candidates with 4 Ballot Units cascaded The EVM can be used for conducting “TWO” simultaneous polls. EVMs to conduct up to “FOUR” or “MORE” simultaneous polls to suit the electoral systems of other countries are developed and demonstration models available

Interconnecting Cable Sub-Units of EVM Interconnecting Cable Control Unit Ballot Unit

Ballot Unit - Details Ready Lamp Slide Switch Window Candidate’s Button Candidate’s Lamp The ready lamp glows when the unit is switched on The slide switch is used to set the no of the unit, ie it is set to 1 if there are only 16 candidates and 1 for the first and 2 for the second if there are 17 to 32 candidates and so on The candidate’s lamp glows indicating to the voter that his/her vote is cast in favor of that candidate After the ballot paper is placed and aligned the screen is put in place and sealed Ballot Paper Screen

Ballot Unit - Internal parts Ready Lamp Slide Switch Candidate’s Button Candidate button is the button which is pressed by the voter Masking tab is used to mask the candidate buttons which are not in use; ie if there are only 8 candidates the remaining switches from 9 to 16 are masked and cannot be operated Masking Tab

Control Unit ON Lamp Busy Lamp Display Section Candidate Set Section Result Section Ballot Section On lamp glows when the unit is powered on. Busy Lamp glows when a ballot is released and a voter is in the process of voting. After the casting the lamp goes off with a beep thus indicating that the vote is cast Total button may be pressed at any given time to know the total no of votes polled till then Ballot button – pressing of this button releases a vote in the ballot unit and also results in the busy lamp glowing Ballot Button Total Button

Control Unit - View of Bottom Compartment Power Switch Connector for Auxiliary Unit Connector for Interconnecting Cable Power switch powers on / off the EVM Connecter for connecting the Ballot unit with interconnecting cable Auxiliary unit connector – to connect second ballot unit in case of two simultaneous polls Bottom Compartment Cover

Control Unit - Display Section 4-Digit Display Panel ON Lamp Busy Lamp 2-Digit Display Panel

Control Unit - Candidate Set Section inner door Candidate set section outer door Provision for thread seal Power pack compartment Provision for Thread seal Latch Candidate set button Plug for power pack Candidate set button: For setting the no of candidates in the poll. The Ballot unit and the control unit are connected and powered on. This button is pressed and the candidate button on the ballot unit corresponding to the last candidate is pressed.

Control Unit - Result Section Result I button Clear button Frames for Paper seal Close button Inner latches Result II button Close button: To close the poll at the end of the appointed period. Once this button is depressed no more votes can be cast on this machine Result 1 To view the results of poll 1 Result 2: To view the results of poll 2 Clear : Clears the data recorded in the voting machine – operable only after the results are viewed at least once

Control Unit - Ballot Section Total button Ballot button

Polling The voter is identified from the voters list and records his presence by a signature or thumb impression The Presiding Officer presses the “Ballot” button on the Control Unit permitting one vote The voter then proceeds to the polling cubicle and after perusing the ballot paper on the Ballot Unit, presses the key against the candidate of his choice

Polling A red lamp glows indicating to the voter that his vote has been cast in favour of that candidate The casting of the vote results in a beep in the Control Unit indicating to the Presiding Officer that a vote has been cast He then proceeds to release another vote by pressing the “Ballot” button and the process continues

Closing The cap on the “Close Button” is removed and the button pressed The cap is then replaced The unit is then switched “Off” and the interconnecting cable disconnected

Counting & Results The Power pack / Battery is checked for health by pressing the TOTAL Button After getting ready to note down the result, the green paper seal over RESULT-1 Button is pierced and RESULT-1 Button is pressed.

Counting & Results The “RESULT-1” button is pressed to display the results The results are then noted.

SEQUENCE OF OPERATION OF BUTTONS ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE CLEAR RESULT-1 CAND. SET CLOSE BALLOT

Advantages Modernises the election process User friendly – can be used even by illiterates Simple to operate and can be installed in a short time Preserves voting secrecy No scope for invalid votes Facilitates quick and accurate counting – possible to declare results instantaneously Re-usable by simply erasing votes recorded in earlier poll

Advantages Huge expenditure involved in printing, storing and transportation and security of ballot paper can be avoided Lowers operating costs Easier to manage with less demand on man-power Provision can be made to connect to a “CENTRAL STATION” to consolidate and display / record the results countrywide

Statistics of Interest Around one million machines deployed during Lok Sabha, 2004 polls Low failure rate Costs around US $ 300 Estimated saving on the switchover to EVM is Approx US $ 40 million Political Parties and Intelligentsia who initially were skeptical now endorse the machine for its veracity EVM being demonstrated to voters before the recent elections held in the state of Jammu & Kashmir

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