Can we trust the EVMs? The case for electoral transparency

While India is wrestling with past technology, the US is moving onto Blockchain-based mobile voting

- K C SINGH

The Maharashtra state election and BJP-led alliance's win has revived the debate about the efficacy of EVMs or electronic voting machines. The Supreme Court's dismissal of a plea, seeking paper ballots, accompanied by an unnecessary remark that complaints only follow political defeat. Parliament's winter session stands disrupted over the government's refusal to debate charges against billionaire Gautam Adani, levelled by a US federal court. But Congress' obsession with a return to paper ballots flows from its repetitive electoral setbacks.

The tainted elections debate is hardly limited to India. Re-elected president Donald Trump still refuses to accept that his 2020 electoral defeat was fair. Almost three quarters of Republican voters shared his view about election tampering. It would thus be useful to examine global experience with EVMs and emerging technologies to address dangers of domestic or international electronic interference.

Germany discontinued the use of EVMs after a federal court ruling. The court reasoned that "all essential steps of an election are subject to the possibility of public scrutiny, unless other constitutional interests justify an exception". The EVMs did not meet that standard as votes going in the memory of a machine and then tabulated by a separate device could not be verified by the voter.