Electronic voting machines for six Delhi constituencies

NEW DELHI, November 20: Electronic voting machines are going to be used for the first time in the coming Assembly elections. Demonstrating t...

NEW DELHI, November 20: Electronic voting machines are going to be used for the first time in the coming Assembly elections. Demonstrating the machine, Joint CEO, G. Khohar said its use would put a stop to rigging, booth capturing, and invalid votes and also save paper and printing costs.

It is being used in six constituencies on an experimental basis: Kasturba Nagar, Jangpura, Sarojini Nagar, Delhi Cantonment, Minto Road and Gole Market.

Dispelling fears that it could be tampered with, he said it was foolproof and like a ballot box it has to be sealed at various stages. Counting will only take place after the presiding officer is satisfied with all the seals.

The machine containing two units the balloting unit and the control unit is fairly simple to use as the voter only has to press the button next to the candidate’s name on the balloting unit.

The Presiding Officer keeps the control unit with him and the vote can only be polled when he presses a button. As the controls are with him, there can be no booth capturing. “There will be no booth capturing as the votes cannot be registered by just pressing a button. A minimum of 12 second-interval is required between the votes,” he said.

The presiding officer and the polling officers have been trained to handle the machine.

The control unit has a result button which will give the break-up of the votes polled. It will only be pressed when the presiding officer removes the seal from the unit.

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The results would be known instantly by pressing a button. The control unit also has a plastic cap which the election officer can take off, if there is a danger of booth capturing, making the machine non-operational.

If a button is pressed twice, the vote will not be registered. If somebody presses an object like paper near a button, the control unit will show an error. If two buttons are pressed at the same time, the one which has the maximum pressure will be registered.

The machines bought at a cost of Rs 5,000 each are manufactured by Bharat Electronics. Each of the 711 polling booths will have one machine each. One balloting unit can accommodate as many as 16 candidates and four of them can be connected in series.

The Election Commission is carrying out a campaign on TV and in the print media to get the public used to idea of the new machine. The polling booths will have also explanatory posters. Moreover, election authorities have opened centres where people can try out the voting machine. A mock poll would also be carried out to ensure that things go smoothly during actual polling.