Story link: http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Supplement/article/indias-elections-go-electronic-with-evm
Amidst the noise and news bombs exploding everywhere because of the coming elections, one great Indian successs is not getting its due. The Electronic Voting Machine [EVM] is a fully indigenous product refined over the decade since it debuted in 1989. In the forthcoming elections in May 2004, EVMs will be used in every single polling station in the country. Indian elections will have gone fully electronic. A million EVMs will be deployed to ensure that.
The EVM is India’s own quiet affirmation of its commitment to ensuring free and fair elections. The Election Commission of India is an autonomous body with wide and deep powers. In the eighties, it began working with Bharat Electronics Ltd [BEL], Bangalore and the Electronic Corporation of India Ltd [ECIL], Hyderabad to design a machine from the ground up.
Today’s EVM, evolved over several iterations, is a mature product. It consists of a Control Unit [CU] and a Balloting Unit [BU] wired together by a 5m cable. The units are transported in snug polypropylene cases. They are powered by a 6v battery. They can be programmed to cater to upto 64 candidates and can poll and record over 3500 votes although each polling station in India is designed for just 1500 votes. Votes polled can be kept in memory for 10 years.
The Commission’s first concern was the long ballot papers it had to print and transport securely to the nearly million polling stations all over the country. Quite apart from the complexity was the cost and waste of paper. In 1996, 8000 tonnes of paper were used and in 1998, 7700 tonnes. In 2004, paper use is expected to be minimal.
EVMs also greatly reduce the opportunity for local goons to grab hundred of ballots, stamp them and stuff them into the boxes in a few minutes. EVMs will allow only 5 votes to be cast per minute. Also a stolen BU is no issue as the CU holds all the records.
Contrary to elitist apprehensions, India’s unlettered masses have taken well to the use of BU. They pick the symbol of their choice, press a button and wait for a blue glow and a beep to be sure they have recorded their vote. No more precision stamping and folding of yard long paper in a precise manner and inserting it into a narrow slot.
As a wrongly folded or stamped paper was an invalid vote, EVMs have cut invalids completely. Also counting and announcing of results is a matter of 2 or 3 hours as against the earlier 24 to 30 hours. All ye who would call India ‘backward’, pause to recall the drama and primitiveness of vote counting in the Bush-Gore elections in the US four years ago.
Formal rituals devised by the Commission have inspired the confidence of all Indians in EVMs. At each polling station, the presiding officer proves to candidates’ agents, that the machine’s memory is blank. Then he conducts a mock poll involving the agents. Once they are satisfied, polling commences. At the end of the day the ‘total count’ is displayed to them and recorded. The BU and CU are detached and packed separately so that no further polling can take place. While counting the total is tallied and the whole data is cascaded upward to a mother machine. [Learn more about EVM use]
The current elections will be electronic for other reasons as well. TV channels’ involvement is of course old news. This time, cell phones and email will be extensively used. Also some candidates have started a trend to set up their own web sites [for example see this]. The Election Commission is doing what it can. What is left is for apathetic Indians to get pro-active and do their bit about the woes of India’s politics and politicians, they endlessly grumble about. Sucheta Dalal, a renowned campaigner for fair play in business says, “people must come forward and volunteer 2/3 hours per week of their time to help update voter lists, create awareness about issues, evaluate candidates’ background and so on.”
To return to our little darling, the EVM, it is also proving to be good business for BEL and ECIL; they are working overtime to meet the Commission’s huge orders. The quiet men who developed it are aglow because many countries have evinced interest in buying them. Maybe the US should outsource the running of their coming elections as well.
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