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EVM Hackathon: Will all-party meet called by Election Commission put an end to the row?

Amid The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) Controversy Sparked By Opposition Parties, Including AAP And Congress, Following The Losses In Assembly Elections And Recently Concluded Delhi MCD Polls, The Election Commission On Saturday Said It Will Soon Call An All-party Meet To Address The Issue.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Bindiya Bhatt | Updated on: 29 Apr 2017, 08:28:41 PM
EVM row: Election Commission to soon call an all-party meet (File photo: PTI)

Chandigarh:

Amid the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) controversy sparked by opposition parties, including AAP and Congress, following the losses in assembly elections and recently concluded Delhi MCD polls, the Election Commission on Saturday said it will soon call an all-party meet to address the issue.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Saturday that the EC will soon call a meeting of all political parties and will assure them that the EVMs used in the assembly polls were tampering-proof and secured.

Zaidi also said that the EC is considering the use of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in all upcoming polls to assure more transparency and in order to boost the confidence of people in the electoral process.

“We will soon hold an all party meeting in which they will be told how our EVMs are non-tamperable and secured as per our administrative and technical safeguard system,” the CEC said.

He was responding to questions about allegations levelled by various political parties against EVMs. Recently sixteen opposition parties had urged the ECI to revert to ballot system, claiming the faith of the people in EVMs had been “eroded”.

Zaidi also said that the ECI is planning to “hold a challenge” for which time frame is being worked out. The electoral body is planning to throw an open challenge, asking anyone to try hacking its EVMs to dispel doubts of any misuse, it is learnt.

The CEC also said that the ECI had placed an order for the supply of VVPAT machines for use in elections.

“For VVPAT, we have got all the funds. We have placed an order for the supply of 15 lakh VVPAT with two PSUs Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronic Corporation of India (ECI),” informed Zaidi.

He said it is expected that by September 2018, around 15 lakh VVPAT machines will be ready. The Commission’s objective is to use VVPATs in all the coming elections, he said.

India will “perhaps” be the first country where VVPAT will be used 100 per cent at all the poling stations. It will boost voters’ confidence and will bring more transparency in the election process, he added.

ALSO READ | MCD polls proved EVM stands for 'Every Vote Modi', says UP CM Adityanath

Zaidi said that an awareness campaign will be launched to create awareness about the benefits of VVPAT.

VVPAT generates a receipt allowing voters to verify that the the vote went in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the EVM.

After the Assembly elections earlier this year in five states—Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur, many political parties raised their voice against the use of EVMs.

ALSO READ | MCD Results: Naqvi takes jibe at AAP, says 'instead of blaming EVM, respect people's mandate'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was vociferous alleging probable misuse of EVMs while BSP leader Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had also raised question about the polling machines. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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First Published : 29 Apr 2017, 08:24:00 PM

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