EVM: There is often debate in the country regarding Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Some people say that EVM is completely safe while some raise questions whether it can be hacked. The truth is that while designing the EVM, priority has been given to simplicity and standalone operation but layers of security and audit mechanisms make it more robust.
Basic design of EVM and first level of security
India’s EVMs are hardware-based and designed to work offline, meaning they are not connected to any network or internet. Their circuits, memory and vote storage are of local type, hence there is no facility like internet access for remote hacking. This design is the most basic security layer of EVM.
Vvpat
With the VVPAT (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail) system installed with the EVM, the voter is shown the paper receipt of his choice and these paper rolls can be counted later. If any doubt arises, the records of the EVM are confirmed by counting the VVPAT. This is a huge audit-layer which proves to be decisive in any technical dispute.
Research and security questions
Several international and Indian research papers have shown that any electronic voting system can theoretically have vulnerabilities if the machine is physically opened and tampered with or if security is not maintained during storage. Therefore, security is not limited to the internal design of the machine but depends on the entire selection, manufacturing, storage, transportation, polling-station handling and countering. These initiatives include monitoring, presence of party representatives and post-election C&V (Checking & Verification) processes.
Have there really been reports of hacking in India?
Such claims have been coming from time to time and some persons have also claimed to have hacked, but during the Election Commission and subsequent verification, many times such claims were found to be baseless. The Election Commission has repeatedly said that the EVM-VVPAT system is robust and reliable and no tampering was found in the elections.
What technologies and processes make EVMs secure?
Remote attack difficult due to lack of network. Permission-based programming and hash-checking control the machines’ firmware and memory. VVPAT audit trail which is used for matching in any vote counting. Bi-party protocols and tight logistics (synced storage, warehouse monitoring, party inspectors) combine to create multiple layers of security.
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