EVM

The Congress should understand that blaming Electronic Voting Machines will not help as its allies are now speaking about it, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Monday, seizing on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's rejection of doubts on EVMs. In an exclusive interview with PTI, the National Conference leader dismissed the objections to EVMs, saying it cannot be that the Congress celebrates its win in polls held through the machines and then raises questions on their reliability when it loses. Abdullah had said, "When you get hundred-plus members of Parliament using the same EVMs and you celebrate that as sort of a victory for your party, you can't then a few months later turn around and say... we don't like these EVMs because now the election results aren't going the way we would like them to." Asked about Abdullah's remarks, Joshi said, "The Congress should understand when INDI alliance members are saying it... Mamata ji, Sharad Pawar ji, Akhilesh ji are also sayin

The Supreme Court on Friday said the plea seeking a policy for verification of electronic voting machines should go before the same bench that delivered a verdict in April rejecting the demand for bringing back the old paper ballots. When the plea on EVMs came up for hearing, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale told petitioner's counsel senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, "Why don't this matter go before the same bench?" Sankaranarayanan informed the court about its April judgment on a batch of pleas over EVMs. "That is what I am saying. It (plea) should go before the same bench," Justice Nath reiterated. The bench further said, "To our understanding, the reliefs claimed by means of this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India would require interpretation/modification/implementation of the directions issued by this court vide judgement dated April 26, 2024 ..." In its verdict on April 26, the apex court termed the suspicion of manipulation of the EVMs

Heavy police security was deployed on Tuesday at a village in Maharashtra's Malshiras assembly segment after some locals cast doubt on the EVMs and insisted on conducting a "re-election" with ballot papers, officials said. The Malshiras sub-divisional magistrate on Monday imposed prohibitory orders, under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, from December 2 to 5 in the area to avoid any conflict or law and order situation due to the "repoll" plan of some locals, an official said. Residents of Markadwadi village under Malshiras segment in Solapur district have put up banners claiming a "repoll" will be held on December 3. The village comes under the Malshiras assembly constituency, where NCP (SP) candidate Uttam Jankar defeated BJP's Ram Satpute by 13,147 votes in the November 20 state polls, the results of which were declared on November 23. Though Jankar won the seat, Markadwadi residents claimed he polled less votes in their village against Satpute which was not

Heavy police security was deployed on Tuesday at a village in Maharashtra's Malshiras assembly segment after some locals cast doubt on the EVMs and insisted on conducting a "re-election" with ballot papers, officials said. The Malshiras sub-divisional magistrate on Monday imposed prohibitory orders, under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, from December 2 to 5 in the area to avoid any conflict or law and order situation due to the "repoll" plan of some locals, an official said. Residents of Markadwadi village under Malshiras segment in Solapur district have put up banners claiming a "repoll" will be held on December 3. The village comes under the Malshiras assembly constituency, where NCP (SP) candidate Uttam Jankar defeated BJP's Ram Satpute by 13,147 votes in the November 20 state polls, the results of which were declared on November 2. Though Jankar won the seat, Markadwadi residents claimed he polled less votes in their village against Satpute which was not

The Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates who faced defeat in the recent Maharashtra assembly polls have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said. Many losing candidates of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) pointed fingers at the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during their interaction with party head Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday. Thackeray took stock of the lacklustre performance of his party at a meeting held at his residence in Mumbai. The poll verdict last week saw the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, retaining power with a massive mandate, pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to margins. The Mahayuti won 230 seats and MVA only 46 in the 288-member House. The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) emerged as the largest party in the opposition camp by winning 20 seats, followed by Congress which bagged 16 constituencies, while the NCP (Sharadchandra

Police have registered a case against around 40 persons after they allegedly vandalised three polling booths at Ghatnandur in Maharashtra's Beed district and damaged some EVMs when voting for the assembly polls was underway a day ago, officials said. Some police personnel were injured in the attack by the accused, who carried wooden sticks and sharp-edged weapons with them, they said. The case was registered at Ambajogai Rural police station, around 220 km from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, for the incidents that occurred at Ghatnandur in Parli assembly constituency, an official said. Polling for the 288-member state legislative assembly was held on Wednesday. "A video of Madhav Jadhav, a local leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), being beaten up at Kanherwadi village in the constituency had earlier gone viral. Following that, 50 to 60 persons came with wooden sticks and weapons, and vandalised the polling booths set up in Someshwar School, a Zilla Parishad (ZP) school and another Z

Congress workers ransacked a car transporting an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to a strong room in Nagpur after polling concluded for the Maharashtra assembly elections, police said. The police clarified that the EVM in question, which escaped damage in the attack, was not used in polling and it was kept on standby. The incident took place in the Killa area of Central Nagpur constituency on Wednesday when polling officials were transporting the EVM from booth number 268 to the designated strong room in a car. Workers of the opposition Congress claimed the EVM was being taken to a photocopy shop to print a document and they started questioning poll party officials over violation of protocols in handling the machines. According to the police, the vehicle was intercepted by a group of individuals, who raised concerns that EVM protocols were being violated. Tensions escalated when Congress workers began pelting stones at the car. Reports suggested officials inside the car were ...

The EC received eight applications for verification of EVMs used in the 18th Lok Sabha elections and three for the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

Akhilesh Yadav says that INDIA bloc's win in 2024 Lok Sabha elections marked the end of communal politics in India, while speaking in Parliament

Raising questions on the reliability of EVMs, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked the Election Commission to ensure complete transparency of the machines and processes or abolish them. The demand came a day after the Congress leader had alleged that the electronic voting machine is a "black box" and nobody is allowed to scrutinise them while further alleging that serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. "When democratic institutions are captured, the only safeguard lies in electoral processes that are transparent to the public," Gandhi said in a post on X. "EVM is currently a black box. EC must either ensure complete transparency of the machines and processes or abolish them," the former Congress president also said. Another Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, "Before treating the Electronic Voting Machines as infallible, the Election Commission of India should put out data on how many Electronic Voting Machines were found faulty ...

BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit chief D Purandeswari on Monday appealed to the Election Commission to invite global technocrat and Tesla founder Elon Musk to come and attempt hacking Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Reacting to a social media post by Musk that EVMs should be eliminated as they can be hacked by humans or Artificial Intelligence (AI), Purandeswari made this plea to the poll panel. "According to Elon Musk, any EVM can be hacked. Request election commission to please invite him to India to attempt hacking our EVMs," she said in a post on X. According to the state BJP chief, despite "numerous opportunities provided by the Election Commission, no one has succeeded yet'. On June 15, Musk, a top global serial entrepreneur, called for the abolition of EVM in a post on the micro-blogging site X owned by him. "We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," said Musk. However, this social media post by the

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday joined the political slugfest over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying the Supreme Court and the Election Commission need to take a drastic decision on the issue. AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that his party has been raising the incidents of irregularities related to the EVMs for long but were mocked by the BJP. Singh alleged that there were 80 Lok Sabha seats won by the BJP in the recent polls and claimed "if proper counting of votes on these seats happened, the current BJP government will collapse". These 80 seats are in Maharashtra, UP, Bihar and other states, he said. Citing the controversy related to EVM in North West Mumbai Lok Sabha seat, Singh said "The Supreme Court and the Election Commission should now take a strict decision over the EVM issue." A fresh political slugfest has erupted over EVM tampering claims with the Congress and other opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of the Shi

A poll official on Sunday said an EVM was a standalone system that does not need an OTP to unlock it. Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was reacting to a report in Mid-day newspaper about a kin of Ravindra Waikar, the Shiv Sena candidate who emerged victorious there by a wafer thin margin of 48 votes, using a mobile phone connected to an EVM during vote counting on June 4. "The EVM is a standalone system and there is no need for an OTP to unlock it. We have issued notice to Mod-day newspaper under sections 499, 505 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation and spreading false news," Suryavanshi said in a press conference on Sunday. Mangesh Pandilkar, brother-in-law of Waikar was booked on Wednesday for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre on June 4, when results of the general elections were announced, a police official said on Saturday. The Vanrai police station official said the case was registered for Pandlikar's his

Counting of votes for 32 assembly seats in Sikkim began on Sunday, amid tight security arrangements, officials said. The counting was underway at one location each in all six districts of the state. Postal ballots will be taken up first for counting while votes in the EVMs will be counted later, officials said. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, his spouse Krishna Kumari Rai, ex-Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, former Indian footballer and SDF leader Bhaichung Bhatia, state BJP president DR Thapa, Speaker Arun Upreti and senior minister Lunga Nima Lepcha are the prominent candidates among 146 nominees. Tamang and Chamling are contesting from two assembly constituencies. An estimated 80 per cent of the 4.64 lakh voters exercised their franchise on April 19. An additional four per cent of votes were cast through postal by government officials and employees, the CEO office said. Tamang is contesting from the Rhenock and Soreng Chakung constituencies, while Chamling is in

A sitting MLA and BJP candidate allegedly broke an EVM and attacked a polling officer inside a booth during voting in Odisha which recorded a voter turnout of over 60.97 per cent in six Lok Sabha seats and 42 assembly segments, officials said. Two persons - a woman polling officer and a polling agent - died during voting in different booths in Barabati-Cuttack and Hindol assembly segments. An elderly woman voter who fell ill inside a polling booth in Nayagarh assembly seat died in a hospital, officials said. BJP's Khurda assembly segment candidate Prasant Jagdev, who is the sitting MLA of Chilika, was detained for allegedly barging into the booth along with his followers, breaking an EVM and assaulting a polling officer injuring him seriously. Officials said the incident followed an altercation inside a booth in Begunia assembly segment, where he had gone to cast his vote. Jagdev, who joined BJP after being expelled from BJD, later staged a dharna in a police station against his ..

Complaints related to electronic voting machines came from some polling stations on Saturday as people in Delhi voted in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat said she came to vote, but the officials said that the EVM battery was down and she had to wait for half an hour. "I came to vote and they are saying that the battery was down. I have written a complaint. What kind of arrangements have they made? People have been waiting here in the heat for so long," she said. A senior election officer said that technical engineers were asked to look into the matter. "We received information about technical snag from two EVMs. Technical engineers were asked to look into the matter and sort out the problem immediately," the officer said. Mohammad Aslam, a resident of Seelampur, said that the EVM machine at Chauhan Banger polling booth was not functioning. "One of the voting machines inside the school was not

A total of 45,576 EVMs will be used in the state for the Lok Sabha elections and the by-election of Karnal Assembly constituency, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said on Wednesday. Agarwal said 24,039 control units and 26,040 VVPAT machines will be used at 20,031 polling stations for the elections. Among the polling stations set up, 19,812 are permanent and 219 are auxiliary stations, he said. There are 99 polling stations which will be operated entirely by women staff and 71 polling stations will be manned by Person with Disability (PwD) employees, he said. There are 5,470 polling stations in urban areas and 14,342 polling stations have been set up in rural areas, he said. Voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana and bypoll for Karnal assembly seat will be held on May 25 in the sixth phase of general elections. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. The state CEO said that 176 model polling stations have also been established. In view of the prevailing severe hea

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The top court is hearing a petition concerning the cross-verification of votes cast in electronic voting machines with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail

Polling for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) election will be held on electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the DUSU panel and on paper ballots for the college students' unions, according to a notice issued by the DU's chief election officer on Monday. "This is to inform Principals/Directors/Heads of all colleges/institutes/departments affiliated with DUSU that EVMs would be provided only for DUSU 2023 elections. The college students' election will be held by paper ballots that have to be procured, printed and managed entirely by the college itself," the notice said. The election to the students' body of the Delhi University is slated to be held on September 22, after a gap of four years. The DUSU election was last held in 2019. The DUSU election could not be held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19, while possible disruptions to the academic calendar prevented its conduct in 2022. According to the DU, September 12 is the last date for submitting nomination papers, ...