– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi, March 23: As the campaign for general elections 2024 gets underway, a group of concerned citizens under the umbrella of ‘EVM Hatao Sena’ on Friday presented a live demonstration of how EVMs can be compromised at the Press Club of India here, adding further momentum to calls for a return to the ballot paper system.
During the event, the much-talked-about demo model of the EVM machine – invented by IIT Engineer Rahul Mehta – was on display, demonstrating how the black glass put in the EVM allows for manipulation of paper votes. Dr. Sudhir Aggrawal, National Coordinator of the Bharat Alliance, was present when Pawan Jury, the EVM Hatao Sena’s in-charge, gave this presentation. While demonstrating the manipulation of EVMs for a particular party or candidate, Pawan Jury recalled that in 2011, the Supreme Court found evidence of electronic vote manipulation in EVMs. In response to the court’s ruling, the Election Commission brought in a VVPAT machine to ensure election transparency, and the machine has since been used in India.
However, the Election Commission changed the transparent glass that was in place in every VVPAT machine to black glass in June 2017, and they also shortened the light’s 15-second duration to 7 seconds. Following this, it will be possible for VVPAT to manipulate paper votes, he insisted.
Following the directives given by Pawan Jury, attendees cast two votes for the apple, banana, and watermelon symbols in the EVM demo machine. When the VVPAT was opened, four apple slips and one each of the banana and watermelon symbols were discovered. This astonished everyone as the slip was removed. Subsequently, Pawan Jury declared that the manipulation of votes was caused by the black glass inserted in the VVPAT.
In order to allow voters who no longer believe in EVMs to cast their ballots, he stated that he would like to see ballots kept in polling booths for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He would like to see this demand made to the Election Commission. Additionally, he declared that he was fully in favor of India outlawing EVMs. Notably, on January 6 this year, Pawan Jury, the EVM Hatao Sena’s chief, demonstrated this gadget at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. The video of the demonstration went viral across the whole country, spreading the message of EVMs’ vulnerability to manipulation.
It was only thereafter that a number of organizations stepped up, and the campaign to ban EVMs gained traction. He also alleged that after 2017, every election was rigged to bring a particular party to power. He also cast strong aspersions on Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh assembly election results, hailing from Bhilwara town, Rajasthan.
Speaking on the occasion, the National Coordinator of the Bharat Alliance, Dr. Sudhir Aggrawal, said that more than 110 political parties across the country have supported the demand and have sent a letter to the Election Commission, demanding that ballot papers be kept in the booths for voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He said that in the coming time, EVM demos will be displayed in more cities across the country, and their aim is to completely ban EVMs in India. Many anti-EVM activists, including Delhi in-charge of EVM Hatao Sena, Ajay Tiwari, and co-in-charge Shivam Saini, were present in this program.
Shivam Saini said EVM Hatao Sena is a group of concerned citizens who are educating citizens about loopholes (VVPAT black glass) in EVMs and requesting ECI to give ballot paper options in polling booths.
EVM Hatao Sena has also brought together 143 political parties (which include 100 parties from the BHARAT alliance) that demand either the complete removal of EVM or the option of a ballot paper to be given to voters along with EVM. Forty-three parties have also written letters to ECI for the same.
