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EVM Machine
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Election Commission of India's response on the pleas seeking verification of the burnt memory and symbol loading units in EVMs in compliance of its judgement. A special bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta asked the poll panel to refrain from erasing or reloading data during the verification process. The pleas sought a direction to the poll panel to check and verify burnt memory/micro-controllers and the symbol loading unit (SLU) of electronic voting machines (EVM). The bench asked the poll panel to file its response within 15 days and explain the procedure adopted and posted the matter in the week commencing March 3. Irked over suppression of the fact relating to a similar petition which was dismissed as withdrawn, the bench said it would not hear a fresh plea filed by former Haryana minister and five-time MLA Karan Singh Dalal seeking a policy for the verification of EVMs. The bench issued notices to the
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said with EVMs, people have "lost the right" to know who they have voted for. Speaking at an event on National Voters' Day, on the eve of Republic Day, he said the country must revert to elections through ballot paper. The former Maharashtra chief minister also took swipes at the BJP and its predecessors, stating that freedom of the country is now in the hands of those who had no connection with the freedom struggle. "They participated neither in the Indian freedom struggle, nor in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement," he said, referring to the movement for the formation of the Maharashtra state. There is no value to voting any longer, Thackeray said, adding that whether EVMs can be tampered with or not is a technical question, but all the institutions have been captured. "When polling took place through ballot paper, we knew who we voted for," Thackeray said. Though there is Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with EVM,
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear a plea filed by former Haryana minister and five-time MLA Karan Singh Dalal seeking a policy for the verification of Electronic Voting Machines. When the matter came up for hearing on Friday before Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan, the bench said the case shall be placed before the Chief Justice along with similar petitions. "This can go before the Chief Justice's bench," the bench said. Dalal has approached the Supreme Court seeking a policy for the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He has sought compliance of an earlier judgement of the top court delivered in the case of 'Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India'. Dalal and co-petitioner Lakhan Kumar Singla secured the second-highest votes in their respective constituencies and have sought a direction to the Election Commission (EC) to implement a protocol for examining the original "burnt memory" or microcontroller of the four
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has called for elections to be conducted using ballot papers, citing a lack of trust in electronic voting machines (EVMs). The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said this at a press conference at the SP headquarters here on Sunday, alongside Rahul Kumar Kamboj, an Indian-origin member of Parliament in Germany. "Even a country like Germany conducts elections using ballot papers. But in India, elections are conducted with EVMs to serve vested interests," Yadav said. Emphasising the need for elections that inspire confidence, he said, "No one trusts EVMs. Even the faces of those who win elections seem dejected as they too do not have faith in the system." At the press conference, Kamboj highlighted the benefits of Germany's ballot-paper voting system. "In Germany, voting is still conducted using ballot papers. It is an important system because any discrepancies can be addressed with a recount," he explained. Reflecting on his visit to .
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
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
Mumbai Cyber Police has lodged an FIR against a man who claimed he could hack EVMs by isolating machine frequency, Election Commission (EC) officials said. The complaint in the matter was lodged by the Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO), alleging that the claims made by the accused, Syed Shuja, were false, baseless and unsubstantiated, they said. The FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act at Cyber Police Station, Dakshin Mumbai on November 30 "against the person in this video", the CEO said. The EC action came after some social media users shared a video in which a man is heard claiming that he could hack and tamper with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the Maharashtra elections by isolating the machine's frequency. EC officials here identified the man as Syed Shuja. In 2019, the EC ordered filing of an FIR against Shuja for making similar claims. "In a similar incident involving false claims, an FIR was lodged on the direction of the
The BJP on Saturday hit back at the Congress for questioning the electoral process, including EVM's integrity, saying its chief ministers and other elected representatives like Rahul Gandhi should first resign and announce that they will contest only after ballot papers are brought back. Such a stand will underscore their trust in the issues being raised by them, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters, adding that their allegations will otherwise be nothing but empty words. The Congress should move the courts over the issue too, he said, while stressing that the Supreme Court has quite a few times endorsed the transparency of the electoral process and the integrity of Electoral Voting Machines. Congress chief ministers, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should resign as they were elected through the same electoral process the opposition party is questioning, Bhatia said. It was ironic that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned EVMs on a day Priyanka Gandhi Va
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 ...