Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the opposition parties have started the familiar attack on electronic voting machines (EVMs). On Thursday, 23rd March 2023, the opposition parties held a joint meeting and decided to approach the election commission to raise their concerns over using EVMs to conduct elections. The concerns were particularly regarding the election commission’s plan to allow remote voting for migrant voters.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Independent Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) member Anil Desai, and BRS member K Keshav Rao were among those who attended the meeting of leaders of opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha, which was called upon by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Trinamool Congress didn’t send a representative to the meeting.
In the media interaction after this meeting, Sharad Pawar said, “We just raised certain questions and we expect a reply from the Election Commission.” Congress leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh said that all opposition parties have opposed the Election Commission’s idea to use remote EVMs to enable migrant voters to vote in elections.
EC had called an all-party meeting over Remote EVM. Almost unanimously, holding elections through Remote EVM was disagreed (by parties). They wanted to give a demonstration, but that too was turned down. There is suspicion in the country over this: Congress MP Digvijaya Singh… pic.twitter.com/5yJ23z0Ui2
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2023
Digvijay Singh said, “The opposition parties had even turned down the EC’s plans to make a demonstration about the remote-EVMs. There is doubt among voters about EVMs. Earlier they used to say that this is a standalone machine but now they accept that it is not a standalone machine because the candidate’s name and symbol are inserted through the internet. They used to say that it has a one-time programmable chip. But now they accept it has multiple programmable chips.”
Earlier they used to say that this is a standalone machine but now they accept that it is not a standalone machine because the candidate’s name and symbol are inserted through the internet. They used to say that it has a one-time programmable chip. But now they accept it has… pic.twitter.com/XUGS6MdwGj
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2023
He added, “Citizens Commission on Elections chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur had raised doubts about EVMs and petitioned the Election Commission but had received no response from the Commission. All political parties present here agree that we need to ask this from the EC and that the suspicions in our mind should be done away with”
All political parties present here agree that we need to ask this from the EC and that the suspicions in our mind should be done away with: Congress MP Digvijaya Singh pic.twitter.com/V8yr0nhHZZ
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2023
Kapil Sibal said, “It is a fact that no other country in the world uses EVMs for voting. Then why are these machines being used in our country? The foundation of democracy is at stake if the ‘one man, one vote’ can be manipulated.” However, Sibal and Singh dodged media questions about whether they doubted the electoral victory of opposition parties in jurisdictions where EVMs were used for the election process.
Kapil Sibal said, “We have decided to move the Election Commission one last time. We want to hear from the Election Commission on our concerns. If the EC does not address our concerns, we will take political action.” It is notable that the opposition parties have often blamed EVMs for the electoral defeats in various polls in the recent past.
It is notable that while the Election Commission has developed a Remote EVM to enable people living outside their constituencies to vote, the term is misleading, as the EVM is not connected to a network, as the word ‘remote’ usually denotes. The EVM for remote voting is similar to the existing EVMs, the only difference being that one single machine can be used for several constituencies.
Just like the regular EVMs, RVMs are also standalone, non-networked voting machines, they do not have any network interface and can’t be connected to any network. While EVMs are used for voting in a single constituency, RVMs can run elections for several constituencies, up to 72. Using RVMs, people from different constituencies in a state living in a different state can cast their votes during elections. The details about how remote EVMs work can be read in our previous report.
