As Bharatiya Janata Party Registers an Extra Ordinary Victory in the State Elections Winning 325 out of 403 Seats in the Polls, BSP Supremo Mayavati has alleged that the Electronic Voting Machines used to collect votes were tampered in such a way that whatever button was used by the Voters the Votes were Shown in the Tally of the BJP.
This Charge made by Mayavati has been Backed by all the Parties who participated in the Elections thereby questioning whether the Assembly Elections Conducted in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh were free and Fair
Backing Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav the Leader of the Ruling Samajwadi Party in U P said that there should be a probe in the matter.
“Either the EVMs did not accept votes other than BJP, or the votes of other parties have gone to BJP in the EVMs,” Mayawati said after counting leads are showing the BJP sweeping the state elections
The BSP chief challenged BJP president Amit Shah asking him to conduct polls again, adding she will be proven correct.
Mayawati Further Asserts
“Most votes in the Muslim majority constituencies have gone to BJP, (that) makes it evident that voting machines were manipulated,” she added.
She Further Alleges that The BJP have won the elections dishonestly saying further
“If you are honest, ask the poll panel to re-conduct polls with ballot paper instead of EVM,” she said.
“Even in the US, it has been shown that EVMs are not reliable,” she said,
She alleged “EVM tampering” in Uttarakhand as well, which is also being won by the BJP, in what many are seeing as an upset.
Mayawati said she has written to the Election Commission demanding the immediate stoppage of counting and the declaration of results in UP.
Mayawati’s Claim Has also been Supported by Senior Politicians Like Lalu Prasad Yadav President of RJD who was campaigning for the Samajwadi Party in the State and who said that He Fully supported BSP chief Mayawati’s allegations that EVMs were tampered in the Uttar Pradesh polls and demanded a probe by the Election Commission.
“What Mayawatiji is saying should definitely be probed by the Election Commission,” Lalu Prasad told reporters.
“It’s known that Gujarat is the hub of EVM manufacturing, hence tampering and Malpractices of EVMs cannot be ruled out.
“We had complained to the EC about this in the past and also held demonstrations on the issue. The EC had assured that mock polls would be conducted in every booth before the actual polling in which representatives of all parties could check whether the EVMs were working properly or not,” the RJD chief said in support of demand for probe.
“I don’t know whether mock polls were held in UP or not,”
He demanded that the EVMs in which votes were counted today should be kept safely and the EC should get it probed whether there were any technical defects in them or not.
Election Commission of India has dismissed all allegations of the BSP Chief Mayavati saying there is “no merit” in Mayawati’s allegations that EVM tampering affected the ele ction results. EC says it has ”firm conviction and complete satisfaction” that the equipment cannot be tampered with.
Mayawati, however, dismissed the out come of the Poll Results
Soon after the BJP’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, where it romped home with three-fourths of the 403 seats, the BSP supremo Mayawati dismissed the poll outcome and called for a fresh elections saying that this is due to EVM Tampering
However, the commission wrote to BSP’s national general secretary Satish Misra saying it found no merit in the allegations, and the “prayers made in your letter are not legally tenable”.
“The safeguards are implemented transparently with the involvement of political parties, candidates and their representatives at every stage to build their confidence on efficacy and reliability of EVMs. The prescribed administrative process has been fully complied with in UP and Uttarakhand,” the EC wrote.
While she called for the voting machines to be examined by technical experts from “a foreign country” and to withdraw their use in future elections, the Commission has defended the use of EVMs.
“Various preventive and precautionary measures have been put in place by the Commission for the operation, maintenance and storage of the EVMs,” the panel wrote, going on to say that the EC has “firm conviction and complete satisfaction that EVMs cannot be tampered with”.
The Commission also ruled out returning to the ballot system, pointing out that the introduction of the EVMs helped prevent several electoral malpractices and resulted in more efficient conduct of elections.
“The courts have upheld the use of EVMs…they are mechanically and electronically protected to prevent any tampering,” the BSP was told.
The Congress supported Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati’s demand for a probe into EVMs used in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and asked the Election Commission to seriously look into her charges.
Amidst the Allegations and Counter Allegations “ Investigates the Reliability of the EVM Machines and their disastrous performance of these data collecting machines resulting in many western countries banning them because they facilitate rigging of free and fair elections:“Whether her doubts are founded or unfounded, it is a matter to be addressed by EC in order to erase all doubts about the integrity, honesty and impartiality of the electoral process which is intrinsic to uphold the democratic traditions of our country,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
The Following Countries have rejected the use of the EVMs after careful study and detailed research in their findings:
Netherlands
“The government of the Netherlands has banned electronic voting machines from future elections because of a risk of eavesdropping. In May 2008, The nation will return to paper voting.”
- Why? A secure voting machine cannot be guaranteed as compared to the Paper Ballot.
Voting by Paper and Pencil is More secure than Electronic Voting Machines
Ireland
- In 2006, Ireland embarked on an e-voting scheme
- Prime Minister Bertie Ahern had said, it would dispense with “stupid old pencils”.
- Three years and €51 million later, the government scrapped the entire program.
- High costs were one concern—finishing the project would take another €28 million.
- There was a lack of trust. People just didn’t like that the machines would record their votes as mere electronic blips, with no physical record.
Germany
After almost two years of deliberations, Germany’s Supreme Court ruled in March 2009 that e-voting was unconstitutional.
- Why? 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 to raise public awareness of the insecurity of electronic voting.
- Ulrich Wiesner said, the voting machines used in Germany are even less secure than mobile phones.
Italy
- Italy announced that it would not pursue electronic voting any further.
- Italian Minister Giulano Amato stated, “We decided to stop the electronic voting machine. During the 2006 elections we experimented with the machines as a voting system, and not a system that counts the sections, without any reference to the legally valid votes.
- The Italian Government concluded by saying, “Let’s stick to voting and counting physically because it is difficult to falsify. Than voting machines”
Venezuela
- Numerous electronic-voting inconsistencies have been reported in the developing countries.
- Unscrupulous governments often appear too eager to manipulate votes.
- After Hugo Chávez won the 2004 election in Venezuela, it was revealed that the government owned 28 percent of Bizta, the company that manufactured the voting machines.
United States of America
- In 2004, a district judge in Los Angeles upheld a partial state ban on electronic voting in the Nov. 2 election, denying a request by advocates for using voting machines especially for the disabled.
- Why? Software errors had prevented voting from opening on time, causing people to leave without voting.
- Machines weren’t federally approved.
- Certain security conditions were not met with
- In California, the California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley banned EVMs in the November 2004 elections.
- Instead of calling for an outright ban of all EVMs, these machines could be recertified if they included: (i) a verifiable paper trail or a paper ballot option and (ii) certain security conditions are met.
The CIA Observed that Venezuela, Macedonia and Ukraine stopped using EVMs after massive rigging was found due to Tampering of EVMs
England and France have never used EVMs. They Use Traditional Paper Ballots
Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, has maintained that The Election Commission of India has known of these dangers since 2000. Dr M. S. Gill, the then CEC, had arranged at his initiative for Professor Sanjay Sarma, the father of RFID software fame at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and his wife Dr Gitanjali Swamy of Harvard, to demonstrate how unsafeguarded the chips in EVMs were. Some changes in procedure were made subsequently by the EC. But the fundamental flaws, which made them compliant to hacking, remained.
Will We Know the Facts?
Seems Less Likely unless an Independent Enquiry can be held in order to uphold the Claim of Vibrant Democracy pursued in India.
EVMs became popular because they were easier to carry and later count the votes on. They have been a part of India’s election process for the last 15 years
HOW DO THE EVMs WORK?
Every EVM machine has a control unit, a ballot unit and a 5-metre cable. The machine can be operated with a 5 volt battery.
The way it works is that a voter is supposed to press a button against the name or photo of the candidate she wishes to vote for. The moment a button is
pressed, the machine locks itself. It opens now only with a new ballot number. An EVM registers only five votes in a minute.
EVMs became popular because they were easier to carry and later count the votes on. They have been a part of India’s election process for the last 15 years. While all this sounds alright, there is enough evidence to suggest EVMs are also unsafe and unreliable.
WHAT ARE THE THREATS?
- EVMs can easily be hacked.
- The complete profile of a voter can be accessed through EVMs.
- EVMs can be used to manage the results of an election.
- The EVMs can easily be tampered by an election official.
- Even the election software of an EVM can be changed.
Many of the Countries no longer use these EVM’s because the Electronic Experts have proved these machines can easily be hacked
The Bharatiya Janata Party who Won only 47 Seats out of 403 Seats in the U P Assembly Elections in 2012 have Won 325 Seats in this Elections in 2017 registering a spectacular victory giving rise to the suspicions of the Parties who Contested alleging all along that the Elections are not Free and Fair.The results have been thought provoking amongst India’s Electorate
The People of India Demands Answers if their valuable votes have been credited to the Right Party
We will have to Wait & See what the Government has in store for its People
From: Tejender Singh Sandhu