Amidst large-scale allegations of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) being tampered with, the state chief electoral officer S Chockalingam on Saturday shot down claims that the machines can be manipulated at all. In an interview to Yogesh Naik he also dismissed allegations of candidates who claimed to have got zero votes in their area blaming malfunctioning EVMs for the same.

The Opposition has raised doubts on the functioning of EVMs, alleging they can be remotely controlled. Can EVMs be tampered?

It has been repeatedly proven that EVMs cannot be tampered. The Supreme Court has upheld the use of the EVMs. The machine consists of a control unit, a ballot unit and a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) unit. The control unit has a burnt-in chip whose programming cannot be modified. The control unit only registers the numbers of candidates voting. The VVPAT has been introduced for transparency. It shows the voter’s choice of symbol.

There are two parts of EVM security – technical and administrative.

It is technically fool-proof, with no possibility of a connection with wi-fi or Bluetooth. Its chip cannot be re-programmed.

The administrative side ensures transparency of the process – in fact, after candidates are finalised, they are invited for inspection.

Also read: Maharashtra polls: MVA seeks EVM data; in self-introspection mode

Please explain the process from the time of voting to calibration of votes by polling officers.

After the voter presses the button on the...

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