Page 52 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES February 2020

EVMs –
Digital means of fraud?
Many politicians have argued that
EVM is a non-transparent technology;
which leads to fraudulent voting
activities. And there have been cases
this has been rightfully proved.
During the 2018 Election, around
5,045 EVMs were selectively placed in
six constituencies. Upon visiting the
sites, a national newspaper has
reported that many of the voters have
claimed that their ballots were
claimed by someone else. Another
issue that arose during that time was
that the polling was halted for a few
hours due to malfunctioning units.
Many of the voters even claimed to be
How does an EVM function? Are EVMs widely coaxed by party thugs and were
‘instructed’ to vote for particular
At first, voters need to identify used? candidates.
themselves via fingerprint, NID or India has long been using
smartcard. Upon inserting their EVMs for their elections.
document, their information appears Many other countries of the Friend or Foe?
Automation on the screen, which is then verified by world, like Namibia, Nepal, The bottom line is this – Electronic
the presiding Polling Officer. Once the Armenia, Bhutan, Voting Machines undeniably have their
voter has been confirmed to be
fair share of benefits. The Election
REINVENTING verified, the balloting unit then gets Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Commission of Bangladesh has high
Australia, Belgium,
activated. The voter is then permitted
hopes of using EVMs in order to ensure
Canada, are well known for
to step into the compartment that
transparent voting events. At the same
using electronic voting
contains the balloting unit.
time, these EVMs are not completely
THE VOTING The balloting unit comprises of a mechanisms. Bangladesh safe from malpractices either. So
recently has quite a
screen and a few buttons. The screen
instead of arguing about this new
successful run in properly
shows the name of the candidates and
generation voting system’s
using EVMs across
their respective symbols. And on the
left of the screen, there are a set of Bangladesh’s effectiveness, proper action should be
taken to ensure that the voting events
parliamentary elections in
The mass spread of buttons where each button represents Dhaka-6 and-13, are free from the hands of goons and
one candidate. In order to cast a vote,
political thugs. Only then can we
SYSTEM EVMs in elections the voter needs to press the button Chattogram-9, Rangpur-3, ensure the true essence of democracy;
Khulna-2 and Satkhira-2.
beside the candidate’s name and However, some have where every man and woman have their
symbol. Upon pressing, the particular opposed the usage of EVMs rights to choose their leaders and work
By Farhat Zishan button gets illuminated for a few together to build a better nation.
As the Dhaka City election looms in, excitement has started to reach fever seconds. To confirm the vote, the voter in Bangladesh.
pitch. Catchy songs for contestants, posters flooding entire areas and then needs to push the “Green” button.
contestants going from door-to-door to seek their support – it has a festive In case the voter has mistakenly voted
atmosphere to it. And there’s one major addition to this year’s city election – for the wrong candidate, their vote can
the usage of Electronic Voting Machine. Popularly known as EVM, these be undone as long as they have not
devices have first been used in Bangladesh during the 2012 Chattogram pressed the “Green” button yet. To do
Municipality Election. While we’re all accustomed to the idea of inserting our so, the voter simply has to press the
folded votes into ballot boxes, these futuristic devices have both garnered “Red” button of the balloting unit.
praises and raised a few eyebrows.
This will cancel the previous vote that
they have casted. Then the voter needs
What is an EVM? to begin from the very start. Choosing
Simply put, an Electronic Voting Machine is a digital alternative to his desired candidate, pressing the
our traditional ballot box-based voting mechanism. First introduced corresponding button, confirming their
in North Paravur Assembly Constituency in Kerala in 1982, this vote via pressing the “Green” button
device is constructed of two particular components - a control unit again. Please note that once the voter
that is operated by a polling officer and a balloting unit placed has pressed the “Green” button, the
inside the voting compartment. action cannot be undone.
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