Elon Musk sparks fresh debate on EVMs: How do e-voting machines work?

Reacting to alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico, Elon Musk's Saturday remark has fuelled Indian political debate on EVM

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants the EVMs or electronic voting machines “eliminated” as he believes they carry a risk of getting hacked by humans or artificial intelligence.

Musk made the remark on Saturday, while reacting to a report of alleged voting irregularities due to the EVMs in the Puerto Rico elections. The Twitter CEO’s inputs on the much debated topic have also spread to the Indian political discourse, sparking a renewed focus on the issue.

Rahul Gandhi labelled EVMs as ‘black box’, which he said nobody is allowed to scrutinise.

“Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process,” Gandhi said, referring to the row over alleged EVM tampering in Mumbai North West seat in Maharashtra during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, a claim refuted by the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrakshar said that Musk’s views may apply to the US, where internet connected voting machines are used but in India, EVMs are secured. He responded to Musk’s remark, saying they were a “sweeping generalisation” and offered the billionaire a “tutorial” of how the EVMs work.

However, Musk remained unconvinced.

How do Indian EVMs work?

According to the explanation by the election body, EVMs are electronic devices with two units - a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit. Joined by a five metre cable, the control unit remains with the polling officer while the Balloting Unit is placed inside the voting compartment.
 

The control unit has a ‘ballot button’ which is pressed by the poll official to release a ballot. Once this happens, a voter can register their vote for the candidate of their preferred choice by pressing the blue button on the Balloting Unit against that candidate and symbol.

Do EVMs require electricity?

The EC says that the EVMs don’t require electricity. They run on ordinary batteries, which are assembly by either Bharat Electronics Limited or Electronics Corporation of lndia Ltd.

One EVM can record a maximum of 2,000 votes and can feature a maximum of 64 candidates including Nota (none of the above choices) if the earlier M2 EVMs (2006-10) model is used.

However, the M3 EVMs used post 2013, can accommodate up to 384 candidates by connecting 24 Balloting Units to it.

Who designed the EVMs?

The EVMs have been designed by an expert panel of the poll body in collaboration with two government-owned entities - Bharat Electronics and the Electronic Corporation of India. The EVMs are manufactured by these two public sector undertakings. 

How much do EVMs cost?

M2 EVMs cost about Rs 8,670 per unit while M3 EVMs are slightly costly, priced at Rs 17,000.