Resolution on Electronic Voting
There is insufficient appreciation among the general public of the facts and issues about this vital matter - largely due to the mystique concerning anything technological, and to the implicit faith in a constitutional body such as the Election Commission. We are not opposed to use of technology per se in elections. But it will be unwise to use technology without being aware of the attendant risks and without making provisions for adequate safeguards. To safeguard Indian democracy, VeTA endorses the following resolution :
The basis for the above resolution is elaborated below.
Use of electronic voting machines poses many unacceptable risks. In a large number of polling stations across the country, they have either malfunctioned or misbehaved leading to disruptions in the polling process and raising serious doubts about the working and reliability of the EVMs. Read more While the Election Commission of India claims that the EVMs have helped curb booth capturing, the reality may be otherwise. There are fears, confirmed by some field reports and evidences that the electronic voting has ushered in a specialized breed of techies offering enterprising solutions to “fix” elections via the electronic voting machines. The most dangerous thing about electronic rigging is that it would go undetected. This is a very sophisticated way of electronic booth capturing. Unlike in the traditional booth capturing, this is neither visible when it happens nor can it be established after elections. Electronic voting machines used in Indian elections function as black boxes. Voters have no way to verify that their votes are recorded and counted properly. For this reason, use of voting machines that do not provide a voter-verifiable audit trail (print-out of every vote) must be stopped forthwith. In the new regime with voter verified paper ballots, electronic counts may be checked first for identifying winners. In the case of close contests or in the event of disputes, print-out ballots should serve as the authentic record of voting, taking precedence over electronic counts. ![]() If you have any questions or comments please send us an email veta@indianevm.com |
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