Did your vote really count in the last election---you never know! It is a fact that the election results announced on May 16 surprised the entire nation and proved all exit pollsters wrong. It is difficult to assume that all the post election exit polls can be proved equally wrong. While the exit polls predicted a hung parliament, the election result gave a clear majority to the ruling party. Is there a possibility that the exit polls represented the actual voting pattern and political mood in the country and that the election results announced on by counting the electronic votes recorded by the EVMs was due to a silent coup using the machines manufactured and handled by the countries largest defence electronic firms --Bharat Electronics Ltd and (Bel) the Electronic Corporation of India LTD (ECIL), Both the defence units are part of Indian military industrial complex, which do not have much reputation for transparency.
The recent Indian Parliament election is noted for the crucial role of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the fast and efficient conduct of the voting process. The largest democracy in the world used 1.5 million EVMS manufactured by two defence electronic units and monitored by the Election Commission of India. The reputation of indigenous EVMs are upheld by the government officials and the mainstream media alike, and an ongoing debate in the Western countries, bastions of parliamentary democracy, about the use and misuse of electronic voting don't find much space in the Indian visual or print media.
It is a fact that the election results announced on May 16 surprised the entire nation and proved all exit pollsters wrong. It is difficult to assume that all the post election exit polls can be proved equally wrong. While the exit polls predicted a hung parliament, the election result gave a clear majority to the ruling party. Is there a possibility that the exit polls represented the actual voting pattern and political mood in the country and that the election results announced by counting the electronic votes recorded by the EVMs was due to a silent coup using the machines manufactured and handled by the countries largest defence electronic firms --Bharat Electronics Ltd and (Bel) the Electronic Corporation of India LTD (ECIL), Both the defence units are part of Indian military industrial complex, which do not have much reputation for transparency. While the power tussle between the incoming and outgoing election commissioners, pro-BJP Gopalaswami and pro Congress Navin Chawla, was widely reported in the national media, a silent leadership change in both the defence electronic units largely remained outside the focus of mainstream Indian media. (box) -
-(Features of Electronic Voting Machines--Source India Election Commission)
A major flaw in the working of EVM is that the election results cannot be physically verified as the digital system leaves no paper trail. Allover the world, especially in the USA, experts are questioning legitimacy of flawed digital voting system and demanding governments to introduce Voter Verified Paper Records. In the Indian electronic voting machine system, as in some other countries, there is no paper record of the votes and a voter cannot verify the accuracy of the digital record before casting his vote. Some Experts have hinted at major flaws in the indigenous electronic voting process that leaves an ordinary voter absolutely in the dark whether his e-vote is "really" recorded in the account of his favourite candidate.
Media reports from certain constituencies in Kerala and other states indicated that the voting machines were recording votes cast in the name of one candidate in the account of rival candidates! Was it just the tip of an ice berg or isolated incidents due to technical glitches? Nothing more is heard about the faulty rigged EVMs that were recording votes cast in the name of one candidate going to the rival candidates and only time will reveal the reality. The UPA alliance low moral standing was exposed during the "note for vote" drama staged in the Indian Parliament during the no confidence motion after the left parties withdrew support in the name of Indo-USA Nuclear deal. (K S Rajasekhara Rao, who superannuated on 30th April..2009 former Chairman & Managing Director of Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad, Examining EVMs__courtesy the Hindu)
While nothing is heard about the reasons for such malfunctioning or rigged electronic voting machines there is ample reason to argue that everything was not fair with the use of 1.5 million EVMs in Indian elections for the 49th Parliamentary Election, which was crucial for many reasons. The EVMS made by two defence companies in India under the strict government control and their source codes and technical details are not revealed to the public.. EVM Malfunctioning was reported in other states too. Was there a big fraud involving the Indian Government machinery to rig the elections in favour of the ruling party? There are enough reasons to suspect so. The EVM process codes, not so open to the media or independent verification can easily be manipulated...Such large scale rigging of electronic voting machines did happen in the US during the November 2004 reelection of George W. Bush. Some other European countries too are not using electronic voting machines for obvious reasons.. A leading politician had in fact demonstrated how an EVM can be fudged in favour of one candidate against the rest (Read How to Tampter with voting machines (Right top column)
The EVM officials claim that the machines are smarter than the previous versions and records the votes with exact time that the voter cast his or her vote. Since 2000 the Bharat Electronics Ltd (Bhel) supplied 650,000 EVMS and for the 2009 elections it made 102,000 EVMs, all supplied by January 2009. Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) Hydrabad supplied 78,000 machines with the improved features.
2004 Election : American Right Wing Conspiracy
In the USA, there has been a strong movement against fraudulent use of electronic voting mechanism by corporate interests and political groups. The huge difference between all the major exit polls and the actual election result is a reason to worry about the fraudulent misuse of electronic voting mechanism. Republicans were desperate to win as the war on terror and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were at crucial stage. Similar to the difference between exit polls and poll results in India, there was huge difference between the exit poll results and actual election results in the 2004 reelection of former US president George Bush. This difference led to several independent investigations. Whistle blowers and watchdog groups have inturn unearthed a major right wing conspiracy that titled the American public opinion using the electronic voting machine software. Indian EVM are claimed to be much less complex and less prone to manipulation or rigging, but experts don't rule out the possibility of fraud. Indigenous machines are not networked, but are not immune from manipulation.
Private companies like Diebold, whose owners are close to the Bush Government are now being questioned for their lack of integrity and fraudulent use of the digital voting system that allegedly rigged major US elections under the former US President. There is no such disputes about the integrity of the government controlled defence electronic units that manufactured the indigenous EVMs. The nation was taken aback by the open allegation made by the former Chief Election Commissioner Gopalaswami against his colleague and the current election commissioner, Navin Chawla being a stooge of the ruling party.
US Activists investigating the 2004 Presidential election have identified hundreds of preceincts in Florida, Ohio and other states where the voting results did not match the exit polls. These inconsistencies occurred primarily in precincts where electronic voting machines with no paper trail were used. In Florida, these discrepancies contributed for George Bush's statewide "victory" margin. Many of them were in precincts with a strong Democratic majority. In the USA many media commentators have explained the gap between the exit polls and the final vote counts by claiming that the exit polls were flawed. However, in those precincts where there was a machine that produced a "paper trail," the exit polls almost exactly matched the actual vote and there were few discrepancies giving George Bush extra votes. When a voter casts his or her ballot for someone other than the candidate they intended to vote for, this is called a "misvote." Misvotes in Ohio,Florida, and New Mexico appear to have given George Bush his winning percentage. (Misvotes favoring George Bush reached as high as 40% on some vote machines in some Florida, Ohio and New Mexico precincts. There were also high misvote totals in other states. Is it just an accidental coincidence that one of the senior officials holding top positions in the EVM manufacturing defence units was posted in the New York Office of the Indian company and maintained close contacts with their US counterparts under the former US president. In fact the electoral victory of Barack Obama in the latest US election could not happen, if the American people were not vigilant about the electronic vote fraud perpetuated by right wing politicians with the help of government officials and the corporate sector. For details (http://www.flcv.com/fraudpat.html)
http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2009/may/19/elections-electrified-why-e-voting-better-paper-ba/
According to Madhav Ragam, Director, Government & Education, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Growth Markets Unit, IBM, while India does a good job considering the "mind-boggling" scale and complexity of its elections, no voting process is invulnerable. "There is usually a weak point in the system, internal or external, that can be exploited. The technological challenge is how you put the necessary processes and procedures in place to ensure that as little as possible falls through the cracks."
In an interesting piece on dangers of digital voting, Bruce Shneier said: "DRE machines must have a voter-verifiable paper audit trails (sometimes called a voter-verified paper ballot). This is a paper ballot printed out by the voting machine, which the voter is allowed to look at and verify. He doesn't take it home with him. Either he looks at it on the machine behind a glass screen, or he takes the paper and puts it into a ballot box. The point of this is twofold: it allows the voter to confirm that his vote was recorded in the manner he intended, and it provides the mechanism for a recount if there are problems with the machine." He added: "Software used on DRE machines must be open to public scrutiny. This also has two functions: it allows any interested party to examine the software and find bugs, which can then be corrected, a public analysis that improves security; and it increases public confidence in the voting process - if the software is public, no one can insinuate that the voting system has unfairness built into the code (companies that make these machines regularly argue that they need to keep their software secret for security reasons. Don't believe them. In this instance, secrecy has nothing to do with security.
Kerala Monitor Special Report--May June 2009
Dangers of Electronic Voting: Did you Vote Really Count
Exit Polls Predicted Hezbullah Victory in Lebanon, But Pro US Coalition Wins --Another electronic Vote Fraud? nother Major Voting Machine Mistake in US City Polls-- Coalition 4 Visible Ballots: Exposes of Electronic Voting Fraud -Hacked: Hightech Elections Theft in USA -
Sivaganga constituency disputed report: Election Commission engaged in serious enquiry
May 26, 2009 - The report received from the Collector on the counting of votes in Sivaganga constituency is seriously enquiring into the affair by reviewing the video recordings. During the counting of votes in the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency, from round 1 to round 15, AIADMK Candidate Raja Kannappan was in the lead.In a sudden twist, during the next two rounds, Home Minister P. Chidambaram was declared to be in the lead and declared elected by a difference of 3354 votes. By 12: 30 PM in a situation when most party agents had left the counting premises, at about 6 PM, the declaration of election was made and has led to intense debate. (P Chidambaram)
Raja Kannappan’s complaint: Stating that there were malpractices in the counting of votes, Raja Kannappan has lodged a complaint with Naresh Gupta, State Election Commmissioner and asked for recount. In his petition, Raja Kannappan has noted: “When counting of votes had ended by 1:30 PM, I was declared to have been in the lead and that I had won by a difference of 3552 votes. Claiming that there were differences in the counting, the District Election Officer declined to declare the result. Thereafter, a declaration was made that P. Chidambaram had won” There is a difference of 15,000 votes between the recordings made during the counting, by Election Party Agents and details mentioned in the Announcement Board.
Why delay? Electronic Voting Machines used in Alangudi Assembly segment were received in Karaikkudi counting centre only on May 14 (that is, the day after the election at 6 AM). The distance between Karaikudi and Alangudi is only 60 kms. Despite this, there has been delay in bringing in the EVMs. Some Machine numbers are also different from the one recorded earlier. On some EVMs, there are no signatures of Election Party Agents. There is no tally between the number of voters and the votes recorded. So said, Raja Kannappan in his petition.
After reviewing the petition, Naresh Gupta has ordered for a detailed report from the Election Officer, who is Collector Pankaj Kumar. Naresh Gupta who gave a Press Statement on May 20 that there were no malpractices in the counting process, has, on the very next day asked for a detailed report from the Collector. This has fueled further debate. Election Commission is seriously engaged in matching the video recordings with the reports made by the Collector.
Election Security and Voting Fraud
As many governments turn to new methods of voting, doubts have grown about their reliability and freedom from manipulation. Here is a selection of links on the topic--Links
DMDK moves HC against use of EVMs
Chennai: The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) of actor Vijayakanth on Tuesday moved the Madras high court for a direction to the Election Commission to revert to using paper ballots in future elections, contending that there was a possibility of tampering with electronic voting machines (EVMs).
According to the Times of India, when the writ petition came up for admission, a vacation bench, comprising Justice V Dhanapalan and Justice MM Sundresh, ordered issue of notices to the Centre, state government and the Election Commission on the question of the petition’s maintainability.
" In the petition, the party contended there was no way for a voter to verify whether the vote he had cast by pressing a button had been correctly recorded in favour of the symbol he had chosen. It alleged that voting machines could be programmed in such a way that every fifth vote would go in favour of the ruling party. It was a fraud on the Constitution and raised serious concerns about future elections," the newspaper said quoting DMDK petition. It noted that there were complaints during the recent Lok Sabha polls about the use of faulty electronic voting machines. There were also instances of delay in replacing faulty EVMs. In these circumstances, the petitioner sought a direction to the authorities to stop the use of EVMs and revert to paper ballots. As an interim measure, the party sought a temporary injunction restraining the EC from using EVMs in the assembly byelections that are likely to take place in the state soon. The DMDK had polled just over 10% of the votes in the recent LS polls, but did not win any seats.http://www.dmdkparty.com/home.htm
Large Scale Reshuffle of Officials Before Elections
Immediately before the election, the ECO decided to reshuffle the senior government officials controlling election process in each state and union territories. S K Rudola, Secretary, ECI convened a meeting of all the Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police in each state and union territories to review election preparedness and security arrangements for the polls.
"The Commission directed that no efforts should be spared to conduct free and fair elections. The Commission directed the States and Union Territories to ensure that all officials who have been posted at one place for more than 3 years in the last 4 years, or those who are posted in their home districts, should be immediately transferred out, and compliance report sent by 28th February, 2009," said a press statement issued by the Secretary on February 5, 2009. (Navin Chawla, Chief Election Commissioner --right N Gopalaswami -shunted out of ECI in the middle of electioneering)
The Commission also directed that all critical posts from the point of view of conduct of elections be filled up on priority basis by 20th February, 2009. Was it only to ensure "free and fair elections" that massive transfers and reshuffles exercise just before the election? Along with a change at the top level in ECI, there was a total reshuffle of the election machinery in the months before the polls. In addition, part of the crucial election related IT work was outsourced and temporary computer programmers were selected to write. To strengthen its IT set up, the commission has appointed several temporary computer programmers "to write code for .NET framework and Oracle/SQL server for software designed for ECI. The use of digital signature certificates for government officials.
The counting of electronic voting was conducted in such a manner to hide booth wise voting pattern, ostensibly to prevent post-election "intimidation and victimization" of voters. What is the big danger if the booth wise voting pattern is known? First election in India using EVMs throughout the country had extensive security measures in place for EVMs -leaving the key with government officials. ""Keys of the EVM strong room should be in safe custody with the RO/DEO. The candidates should be allowed to put their own seal on the strong room". "A control room is opened in the premises from where watch may be kept on the strong room security". (An Indian woman voter using EVM)
EVM Memory can last for 10 years! ECI can rase before 6 Months
A notification regarding security measures for EVMs said if there is no dispute about election results, a machine may be kept in the officer's custody for six months after which it may be reused for new elections. In case, the election commission decides so the machines can be used again, before six months. Even the video tapes of election -booths and monitoring surrounding the control room -can be disposed off after six months. In other words, if there is a dispute about election results after six months, there is no digital record to investigate or trace for malpractices. The memory unit can retain the voting memory for 10 years, but if the machine is reused after six months, the advantage of the EVM is of no use. The digital votes polled in the EVM are erased for reusing the machine.
ECI claims that the voter can be confident that his vote is polled rightly. "As soon as the voter presses the `blue button' against the candidate and symbol of his choice, a tiny lamp on the left side of the symbol glows red and simultaneously a long beep sound is heard. Thus, there is both audio and visual indications for the voter to be assured that his vote has been recorded." It also claims that the machine cannot be programmed in such a way that the first 100 votes are polled right, and the next fixed number of polling can be flawed in favour of one candidate or political party. "The microchip used in EVMs is sealed at the time of import. It cannot be opened and any rewriting of program can be done by anyone without damaging the chip. There is, therefore, absolutely no chance of programming the EVMs in a particular way to select any particular candidate or political party." In conventional polling, before the beginning of the poll, the electoral officer can show empty ballot box to ensure that there is no "hidden" votes in the ballot. In the case of EVMs there is no guarantee that the machine is empty at the beginning of the election. The mock polls to verify the EVM performance can be misleading too.
Does the ballot unit keep a digital memory of the voting pattern and influence the result generated by the control unit?
Late V P Singh, the former prime minister and leader of opposition was skeptical about using digital voting by late Rajiv Gandhi, former PM. The New York Times report of a press conference by VPS and George Fenandes said he brought a computer consultant to the press meeting to demonstrate several ways in which vote counting can be rigged electronically. The New York Times Correspondent, Barbara Crossete, reported on October 15, 1989:
''An election is a question of confidence, not just a mechanical process,'' VP said. ''While we are already fighting the criminalizing of politics, this will be the criminalization of democracy.'' Mr. Singh, leader of the Janata Dal Party and president of the National Front opposition alliance, said he had not been consulted about the constituencies in which a limited number of machines will be introduced.
The NYT report added that the then Janata Dal leader George Fernandes, also took part in the news conference. George, quoted in the NYT report said that of the first 150 constituencies that the Election Commission named as locations for the voting machines, a significant number were in areas where Mr. Gandhi's Congress Party ''has always had a hard time.'' One of them, Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh, is Mr. Singh's constituency.The opposition leaders also questioned the use of a sophisticated equipment in a country where two-thirds of the people are still illiterate. Read the Full Report from the NYT.
Mainstream Media Shy Away from E-Vote Fraud
Indian Mainstream media shy about electronic vote fraud but the ordinary voters are still confused about the magic formula that made DMK that supported Sonia Gandhi win so many seats in Tamil Nadu when the Sri Lankan issue was going on next door.. Similarly, Mamta Banerjee won so many seats in West Bengal, a red bastion, after she chased away Nano car project from the state...Read More from this discussion forum
EVMs are not Tamper Proof: Writes Dr. Subramanian Swamy
Remote Controlling EVM – Manufacturing Election Result
Miracle Win for Chidambaram- how safe is the Geneysy software used by ECI?
Having spent many years in the high-tech world, I do not trust computers, especially embedded systems. Researchers in the US have shown how easy it is to break into EVMs, which is why they have not adopted them. They have realised how important it is to have a paper audit trail, hanging chads and all.It would not be extraordinarily difficult to install a programme with a Trojan Horse in it. To outward appearances and to ordinary testing, the programme would appear normal. However, when it is fed a sequence --Read More
After the counting and other stories
How to tamper with voting machines!
Amarinder Singh, president, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, has demonstrated in 2001 how a smartly programmed electronic chip inserted in the Electronic Voting Machine can transfer votes polled by one candidate to another, leaving no remnants of the original voting pattern. As reported by the Tribune in 2001, a programmed chip will not cost much. "It is both timed and programmed to convert the votes polled by one candidate to those of another. It is only the final position that will remain on the hardchip or all three memories, thus leaving no scope for anyone to find out the original pattern of voting,” he told the Tribune during the demonstration. “Seventeen votes are cast of which three go to candidate number 1, one each to candidates number two and three, 11 to candidate number 5 and one to candidate number 7. And after a while, when the votes are counted, the machine gives 13 votes to candidate number 1 and four to candidate number 2 and nothing to the rest.--Read the Full Story
CIA Expert Says Most Elections Using Electronic Voting Machines Skewed--Read More
BJP blames technology, demands ballot format
The Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the electronic voting machines for its humiliating defeat in the recently-concluded assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Orissa and sought re-introduction of ballot paper system of voting. Raising serious doubts about the accuracy of the EVMs, BJP state president Suresh Pujari in a party meeting said,“Ballot papers are more accurate and authentic. Ballot papers can be kept for record, while it was not possible with EVMs. Since the US and many countries have stopped use of EVMs in elections, we should also stop the practice in India.”
Europe Abandon Electronic Voting: Newsweek
A backlash against e-voting is brewing all over the European continent. After almost two years of deliberations, Germany's Supreme Court ruled in March that e-voting was unconstitutional because the average citizen could not be expected to understand the exact steps involved in the recording and tallying of votes. Political scientist Joachim Wiesner and his son Ulrich, a physicist, filed the initial lawsuit and have been instrumental in raising public awareness of the insecurity of electronic voting. In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, the younger Wiesner said, with some justification, that the Dutch Nedap machines used in Germany are even less secure than mobile phones. The Dutch public-interest group Wij Vertrouwen Stemcomputers Niet (We Do Not Trust Voting Machines) produced a video showing how quickly the Nedap machines could be hacked without voters or election officials being aware (the answer: five minutes). After the clip was broadcast on national television in October 2006, the Netherlands banned all electronic voting machines. Full Report
Verified Voting FoundationDiebold Machines, the US Corporation that manufacturers ATM Machines and voter machines, has been under fire for rigging the US elections under George Bush. An official with Premier Election Systems, formerly known as Diebold, "admitted that its audit log system was flawed enough that it would be possible to delete votes undetected, and several elections officials in Kentucky were arrested on charges related to election fraud, including changing electronically recorded votes.
Critics of the machines have long charged that it would be possible to change the recorded votes undetected, and they have urged that, at a minimum, the machines should generate a paper receipt that the voter would confirm was an accurate record of the vote. Elections officials would keep the paper records and use them to verify the accuracy of the electronically tabulated results in the event of a challenge. Voting machine makers have generally responded to such criticisms by saying that the combination of audit logs and capable elections officials following protocols would prevent fraud.--Read More
EVM – Strengthening Device of DemocracyR. K. Pillai (*Media & Communications Officer, Indian Ministry of Information Thiruvananthapuram)
India, one of the most vibrant democracies of the world and the land of colourful festivals, is at present immersed in a different festivity. The month-long festivity of franchise will reach its crescendo on 16th May when General Election results start pouring in on that day. For the first time our General Elections, the biggest exercise of its kind in the world, is being held in five phases. The mammoth process is of course a surprise for many countries and the world media is showing keen interest in our election process for its sheer size, systematic pattern and people’s involvement.The men in uniform and other officials engaged in election duty is of course doing a commendable job. So too Electronic Voting Machines popularly known as EVMs. Like the 2004 General Elections, this time too the entire polling is being carried out using EVMs. This simple electronic device has transformed the entire election exercise of our country by either doing away or curtailing some of the inherent hassles of the election process.
EVMs were first put into use by the Election Commission in 1982 in Kerala for the bye-election in Paravur Assembly Constituency. This experimental use of EVMs were limited to 50 polling stations. From there it was indeed a great leap forward for the Election Commission. As many as 10.75 lakh EVMs were put into use during 2004 General Elections. The number has further gone up during the present elections.
As we know, apart from eliminating the possibility of invalid and doubtful votes, EVMs make counting of votes and results much faster. Nature lovers too have reasons to rejoice on the use of EVMs. Reduction in use of paper to a great extent is one advantage of this electronic device. Put together, during the General Elections in 1996 and 1999 as much as 16,500 metric tonnes of paper has been saved due to the use of EVMs. Noteworthy fall in printing cost of ballot papers is another plus point. Manufactured by two Central Government Undertakings, Bharath Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India, EVMs can be used even in the remotest areas having no electricity because the device runs on alkaline batteries. Operational simplicity and reliability make EVMs all the more acceptable. The standalone machine has no network connectivity and hence its programming cannot be interfered with or manipulated. The world recognizes the fact that the Indian democracy has inspired many nations especially those in our immediate neighbourhood. Bhutan has used EVMs made in India during their last elections.
As we salute the supreme sacrifice of the security personnel and the sense of belonging of tens of thousands of officials engaged in election duty across the length and breadth of the country let’s also say hats off to the simple electronic device, EVM. Needless to say that EVMs are of paramount importance in further taking our vibrant democracy from strengthen to strength.
