The Debate on EVM vs Ballot Paper

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08-Jun-2024

In a recent hearing by the Supreme Court, the Court rejected the idea of going back to paper votes/ballot papers. In the opinion of Hon'ble Court, it was noted that the “EVMs are simple, secure and user-friendly”. The case filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms vs the ECI, was heard by two bench judges, Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta.

Furthermore, the Court noted that there is a need for caution on repeated doubts on the EVMs. The Court said “We acknowledge the right of voters to question the working of EVMs, which are but an electronic device that has a direct impact on election results. However, it is also necessary to exercise care and caution when we raise aspersions on the integrity of the electoral process. Repeated and persistent doubts and despair, even without supporting evidence, can have the contrarian impact of creating distrust. This can reduce citizen participation and confidence in elections, essential for a healthy and robust democracy.” Underlining the benefits of the VVPAT system, the court noted that the VVPAT system ‘fortifies the principle of vote verifiability, thereby enhancing the overall accountability of the electoral process’.

On behalf of the petitioner - Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) argued that the Court should direct for one of the three options - first, return to paper ballot system; second, the printed slip from VVPAT must be given to voter to verify, and put in ballot box for counting; and third, there should be counting of VVPAT slips in addition to electronic counting by the control unit. The petitioners also argued that the voter's right to know that the vote as cast is duly registered, is a paramount and indelible fundamental right. Election Commission of India (ECI), on the other hand, argued that the EVMs are successful in ensuring free, fair and transparent elections. It further argued that EVMs restrict any form of human intervention and prevent any fraud or malpractices and deter any errors or mischiefs in counting of ballot papers.

What is a Ballot Paper?

Ballot papers are simply a piece of paper where each citizen who is a voter can cast their vote by marking the candidate among the options listed. This is a traditional method of voting. Around the world, ballot papers are a common sight in polling places due to their long use. Voters receive ballot papers indicating the alternatives or candidates for the election when they arrive at the polling place. When India had its first general elections in 1951-52, ballot papers were used and this standard practice continued for as long as the 1990s.

How were Ballot Papers used?

Firstly, the ballot papers are printed and distributed. Each paper carries the details of the names, and the party symbols of the candidates. Once the voter reaches the polling booth to cast his/her vote, their identity and name is checked in the electoral roll. They receive a ballot paper to mark their vote in a private booth, which is folded and inserted in a sealed ballot box. Following the end of the voting period, the boxes are transported to a counting location, where the votes are sorted on the basis of the constituency and its candidates. Each vote is counted manually and then, when the counting is over, the result is announced.

The advantages of using ballot paper includes transparency. Since these are physical papers, it can be cross verified. Ballot papers are also very simple to understand and do not require any technical knowledge. Most often, voters find it as an easy way to cast a vote. However, the chances of fraud and tampering are large in case of ballot boxes. It is possible to stuff the boxes with false votes and tamper results. Additionally, counting votes can be a tiresome and a long process which may lead to delays in announcing results. Human errors are always possible while counting manually. Ballot papers also lack in terms of their environment friendliness since the use of paper is massive.

What is EVM and VVPAT?

Electronic Voting Machines were first introduced in an assembly constituency of Kerala in 1982 for the purpose of by-election but for limited polling stations. In 1989, the Representation of People's Act of 1951 was amended to allow electronic voting but it was not until 1998 when the EVMs were first used across 25 state assembly constituencies. In 2004, the EVMs were used for all 543 parliamentary constituencies for General elections.

Later on, VVPAT i.e Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail was introduced. This is an independent system which is attached with EVMs, allowing the voters to verify their votes as casted. The law on VVPATs was amended in 2013 when SC permitted ECI to introduce VVPAT in a phased manner and called it “an indispensable requirement of free & fair elections”. The VVPAT was first used for a by-election in the Noksen Assembly Constituency of Nagaland in 2013. In 2014, the VVPATs were used in eight Lok Sabha constituencies for the purpose of General Elections.

The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) has three units - ballot unit, control unit, and the VVPAT. The ballot unit is like a keypad, with 16 keys, and a voter casts his/her vote by pressing on one of these keys which represents the political party or the candidate. The control unit, also called a master unit, stays with the polling/presiding officer. When the voter presses the button to cast his vote, the control unit sends the command to the VVPAT, which prints the slip that falls into a box attached to the VVPAT. The fall sensor in the VVPAT sends a confirmation to the control unit which then records the vote.

As of now, two public sector enterprises, Electronic Corporation of India Limited (functioning under the Department of Atomic Energy) and Bharat Electronics Limited (functioning under the Ministry of Defence), manufacture and provide the EVMs to the ECI. To eliminate any chance of manipulation or tampering, the software programme placed into the EVM is key hashed and burned onto a One Time Programmable microcontroller chip at the time of production.

Furthermore, two stages of randomization are applied to the validated EVMs in order to eliminate any possibility of bias or prior knowledge. It was in fact argued by the ECI that nobody, not even the EVM's manufacturer, could know which machine will be assigned to which state or constituency. The EVM Management System software performs the randomization procedure without the need for human participation.

To distribute the EVMs Assembly in terms of segments and constituencies, the initial randomization is carried out. The machines are distributed according to the polling station and reserve pool using the second randomization. Representatives of the political parties and candidates, as well as the Central Observers assigned by the ECI, are present during the randomization process. The political party members and candidates receive a list of electronic voting machines (EVMs) with serial numbers that are randomly assigned to each constituency and thereafter to a specific polling station.

Advantages of EVM

The advantages of the EVM-VVPAT mechanism are noted below:

The Electronic Voting Machines work on battery or power packs and they do not require any external supplies.
Unlike in the case of paper ballot systems, the vote is cast by pressing a button which negates the possibility of an invalid vote.
EVM does not allow for more than 4 votes in a minute. This deters the possibility of any booth capturing.
Once the “Close button” on the control unit is pressed, there is no possibility of voting again.
EVM facilitates the voting process to be free of errors as well as quick.
The voter can verify the recording of their vote with the beep sound. The voter can verify the vote casted in the seven second display of their votes.
The “total button” on the control unit can be pressed to know the total number of votes polled without knowing any candidate wise results of votes.
It is not possible to know the serial number of any candidate in advance since the original program that has a political party and candidates is ported on the microcontroller of the EVM during the manufacturing process itself. It is not possible to pre-program the EVM in suprious manner.
As noted by the Hon’ble Court in its judgement, EVMs help to reduce any paper usage.

Counting on the benefits of EVMs, the Court noted “We must reject as foible and unsound the submission to return to the ballot paper system. The weakness of the ballot paper system is well known and documented. In the Indian context, keeping in view the vast size of the Indian electorate of nearly 97 crore, the number of candidates who contest the elections, the number of polling booths where voting is held, and the problems faced with ballot papers, we would be undoing the electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of the ballot papers. EVMs offer significant advantages. They have effectively eliminated booth capturing by restricting the rate of vote casting to 4 votes per minute, thereby prolonging the time needed and thus check insertion of bogus votes. EVMs have eliminated invalid votes, which were a major issue with paper ballots and had often sparked disputes during the counting process. Furthermore, EVMs reduce paper usage and alleviate logistical challenges. Finally, they provide administrative convenience by expediting the counting process and minimising errors”.

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