AreIndian Elections Free and Fair in the Age of EVMs?
Thisbook makes a host of startling and alarmingrevelations on the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Indian elections:
The continued use of electronic voting machines inIndian elections is unconstitutional because Indian EVMs arenon-transparent and vitiate the requirement of voter control over the ballotingand counting process, which is a basic feature of Indias Constitution. EVMs are tamperable, posing therisk of wholesale rigging of election results. Computer experts have consistently held thatIndian EVMs are not completely secure from software and hardware manipulation.Also, Indian EVMs can be hacked both before and after elections to alterelection results. Universal use of EVMs in Indianelections may also be illegal as per a judgement of theSupreme Court of India in 1984. EVMs have already been bannedin many countries, including Germany, the
Netherlands, Ireland and Italy, and the list is getting longer. Thus, there is agrowing lack of confidence in EVMs the world over. Why should India persist witha failed system that has been abandoned worldwide? The risk of wholesale rigginginherent in EVMs, howsoever small, cannot be accepted in a democracy where thestakes in
winning elections are so high.The book brings together apanel of political, constitutional and technical experts and makes a powerfuland substantive case for the discontinuation of EVMs in Indian
elections if these cannot be safeguarded to public satisfaction. The book is an
eye-opener and a must-read for all Indian politicians and citizens alike.
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