look news india
News India Live, Digital Desk: A turning point has come in India’s electoral history which can prove to be a milestone in the direction of transparency. Now the questions arising in the minds of the winning or losing candidates regarding EVMs will be resolved on the spot. In a historic decision and a new initiative of the Election Commission, for the first time in the country, technical testing of EVMs and VVPAT machines will be done in the presence of candidates. After this order, it is expected that the controversies arising over the accuracy of voting machines will come to an end.
Machines will undergo ‘fire test’ on the instructions of the High Court
This major change is being seen in the election system after the recent legal developments and the strict stance of the High Court. The court has clarified that in order to maintain the purity of elections, candidates have the right to get their doubts resolved by getting the machine checked. Under this process, the machines of those booths of the concerned Assembly or Lok Sabha constituency on which the candidate has lodged an objection will be removed. This entire process will be completed under very strict protocols and monitoring of experts.
‘Micro controller’ will be tested in the presence of the candidates
The biggest feature of this new system is that the candidates or their authorized representatives will be physically present there during the investigation. The ‘burned-in’ memory and micro controller units of the machines will be checked to ensure that the data has not been tampered with. Experts believe that this step will not only increase public confidence in democracy, but will also reveal the ground reality of the allegations of ‘EVM hacking’ made by political parties.
The candidate will have to bear the expenses, a new example of transparency
According to the rules, candidates who want to get the EVM checked will have to deposit the prescribed fee for it. If any fault or tampering with the machine is found during investigation, the fee deposited will be refunded and strict action will be taken in the matter. However, if the machine is found to be genuine, the fee will be forfeited. This process will be started within a certain time frame after the voting results are declared, so that the credibility of the election results can be confirmed.
