Essays

"The real winner a/Election 2004 was the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Apart from ensuring a smooth counting process the little boxes provided political parties with accurate information about voting patterns in different segments in the constituency. In the days of manual voting when the ballots of an entire constituency were mixed in a huge carton before it were counted, there was no accurate method of telling how a particular area had voted. Now the EVM with its booth wise voting figures provides this information on a platter. What's more, the ballot breakup makes it possible to pin the blame on workers in areas where the party per formed poorly and did not get the expected votes ".

General Elections 2004 has made a history by making ballot boxes a thing( the past. Nearly, 10,75,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have 'digitized poll outcome not only in all the Parliamentary constituencies for the first time, bum in the Assembly constituencies in the four States where elections were held. OA  countries including Brazil, the United States and the Netherlands, also used election voting machines but in smaller numbers.

 The change in this field is having a deep impact on politics. Supporters say also well for the environment in a country trying to save its vanishing forests. Ma than 8,000 tons of paper, made from approximately 16 million trees, has been b to print ballots for past federal elections.

 The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is a recent phenomenon in India. I Election Commission(EC) has utilised the services of two major industrial enterprises i.e., M/s. Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad and II Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL), Bangalore, for the design and develop moil suitable versions of the EVMs. These machines were used for the first time during! General Elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly held in May, 1982. There at these machines were used in 1982-83 in ten other constituencies spread over be States in different parts of the country including some sensitive areas in the North East.

 During November, 1998, the Election Commission introduced EVM elections to the State Assemblies in three States—Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and the NCT of Delhi - in a total of 16 Assembly Constituencies with nearly 3.000 polling stations. The experiment was an unqualified success. The simple and easy operation of the machines and fast counting was well received by the electors, parties, candid and the election officials.

A formal study of the use of EVMs was conducted by the Centre for Study of Developing Societies(CSDS) on behalf of the Election Commission of India. This has shown that more than 95% of the voters have welcomed the use of EVMs. Encouraged by this positive response, the Commission used EVMs in Assembly Constituencies during bye-elections held in February, 1999. The entire State of Goa voted with EVMs to elect a new State Assembly in June, 1999.

 The Election Commission made detailed planning and monitoring of the entire operations on each of the three occasions in which EVMs were used. It has also conducted comprehensive reviews immediately after the completion of such elections to further improve the management of the electoral events using EVMs. Consequently, the Commission made extensive use of EVMs during the General Elections for Lok Sabha in 1999 in 46 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 17 States and Union Territories, this being a quantum jump over the maximum coverage of EVMs so far.

Electronic Voting Machine retains all the characteristics of voting by ballot papers, while making polling a lot more expedient. Being fast and absolutely reliable, the EVM saves considerable time, money and manpower and, of course, helps to maintain total voting secrecy without the use of ballot papers. The EVM is 100 per cent tamper proof.

What does an EVM unit comprise of ?

The EVM consists of two units that can be inter-linked. One, a ballot unit which a voter uses to exercise his vote. And the other, a control unit-used by the polling officials.

The Ballot Unit: An electronic ballot box

A simple voting device displays the list of candidates. A facility to incorporate party names and symbols is in-built. The entire voter has to press the desired switch located next to the name of each candidate. This is followed by a short beep sound indicating that the vote has been cast. Once again the polling officer has to press the "Ballot" switch to clear the machine for the next voter to cast his vote. The main advantage is the speed, apart from the simplicity of operation which requires no training at all. A single ballot unit takes in the names of 16 candidates and thus, by connecting four ballot units the EVM can accommodate a total of 64 candidates at one time.

The Control Unit: (controls the polling process)

Conduct of polling, display of total votes polled, sealing at the end of the poll and finally declaration of results - these are the various accomplishments of just one gadget: the control unit. m total control of the polling, this electronic unit gives all necessary information’s at the press of a few buttons. For instance, if you need to know the total number of votes, you just have to press all the switches.

Independent and Reliable

The EVM is compact and reusable' carry pack*. Further, the EVM works wifla battery - power source. Making it independent and totally reliable. Supersensitive Circuitry - No Invalid Votes Inside the control unit is an extremely sensitive circuitry that takes care of common election errors or malpractices like vote duplication. For instance, if one were to press two or more buttons simultaneously, then no vote would be cast. Even if there wasi micro-second difference in the pressing of the switches, the EVM is sensitive enough to trace and identify the switch that was pressed first.

The most important aspect of the use of the EVM is that it makes the Book capturing an impossible task.

In this sprawling nation with hundreds of thousands of villages, elections in remote areas have often become free-tor-alls, with local political thugs indulging in what is known as "booth capturing." Paid by politicians, armed attackers would swoop down on polling stations, firing weapons to seize control. Then, watched by the helpless poll officials, the armed men would stamp ballots in favour of their chosen candidate and stuff them in ballot boxes\Sometimes, when candidates knew they had fared badly in a certain constituency, they hired men to simply steal the ballot boxes as they were being transported to counting centers."The new machines," the Election Commission says, "are a way to fight such practices. The EVM has also the endorsement of Kamataka's High Court Judge K, Shridhar Rao, in a recent order in connection with an election dispute, ruled thai rigging was not possible with the use of EVMs, "Without the least doubt, I say the machine is fully tamper proof," the judge declared.

Vocabulary

1. ensuring—guarantee, secure, assure- 2. vanishing—disappearing, going, fading, I 3. reliable—dependable, trustworthy. 4. compact—compressed, condensed. 5. trace— indication, fragment. 6. indulging—luxurious, rich. 7. thugs—gunman, gangster, desperado. 8. sprawling—uneven, spasmodic, fitful. 9. swoop—plunge, fall, drop. 10. seize—take, take hold of, lay hold of. 11. endorsement—support, sanction, approval. 12. rigging— gear, apparatus, implements. 13. tamper—intermeddle, interpose, interfere. 14. aspects— look, appearance, features.