Published On : Fri, Jul 14th, 2017

Forensic lab test proves EVM was not hacked during Maharashtra election

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EVM Machine
Mumbai: Electronic Voting Machines have been under the scanner of opposition parties after allegations that the EVMs have been rigged to favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission had also thrown open EVM hackathon challenge, in which hardly any political party showed interest, to prove that the machines are incorruptible.

And now for the first time the poll watchdog has scientific proof to back up its claim.

A forensic test, conducted on an EVM on the orders of Bombay High Court to check whether it can be tampered with, has proved that they found no evidence of manipulation in the machine.

It is for the first time an EVM underwent such a test.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EVM’S LAB TEST:

  1. In May, the Bombay High Court had ordered examination of the EVMs from the Parvatti constituency in Pune. The order was issued to rule out tampering during elections to Maharashtra legislative assembly in 2014.
  2. The court had asked the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad to examine the EVMs and opine as to whether they could have been remotely accessed. It also asked the lab to find out whether there was any additional memory chip with other data that could be activated to alter results of an election.
  3. One control unit, one ballot unit and two batteries were sent to the lab. An EVM comprises a control unit and a ballot unit.
  4. As per the report received from the lab, the machine is a stand alone, non-networked, one-time programmable unit, which is neither computer controlled externally nor could be connected internally or to any network.
  5. “Hence, it is opined that no evidence of tampering, altering or any other manipulation could be detected,” the report said.
  6. The report was made public after being submitted to the high court.
  7. After the declaration of assembly poll results of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, some parties had raised concerns over the credibility of EVMs used by the EC and had alleged tampering of the machines during the elections.
  8. In April, 13 parties had met the Commission and had urged it to revert to the old ballot paper system. After an all-party meet on the issue, the poll panel had organised a challenge to tamper with its EVMs. But no political party took part in the June 3 challenge.
  9. EVMs had replaced the ballot paper nearly 20 years ago.