Ramadoss slams Centre over use of EVMs in polls

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PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss today hit out at the BJP-led central government over the use of electronic voting machines in polls in the country and alleged that the party had plans to hack them in its favour.
"When the BJP was in opposition, it objected to the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and even filed a case in the Supreme Court. BJP leader L K Advani also advocated for not using the EVMs in general elections. But now they are in favour of it," he said after meeting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim A Zaidi.
He also targeted the Congress and the DMK for taking a similar stand on the use of the EVMs.

"The stand taken by the BJP and the Congress suggests that the any ruling party can hack the machines in its favour," he alleged.
During the meeting with CEC, Ramadoss suggested some reforms which he thought would streamline the election process, which include debarring corrupt candidates for 10 years, banning corrupt political parties and seize their symbol, not allowing parties to have a permanent symbol.
He also said that if the EVMs have become inevitable then atleast voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines should be audited compulsorily.

Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) or verifiable paper record (VPR) is a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballotless voting system.

Ramadoss said that the EVMs can be hacked and it is used only in India, Brazil and Venezuela.
"All the developed nations were still relying on the paper ballots," he said.