Evm: Dangers Of Trusting Them Too Much

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kanappan got the first payment with promise of more payments. But he didn't receive the second payment. So now he went ahead & filed suit<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Does this mean that if he gets paid again then he will withdraw the case?

[Husky]

http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/07/evm...feat-in-mp.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday, July 01, 2009
<b>EVM flaws lead to Congress defeat in MP -- Srinivas Tiwari</b>
jul 1, 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S. Kalyanaraman


First, it was Ghulam Nabi Azad who spoke about EVM tampering in Orissa. Now, it is a veteran leader speaking about lack of transparency in EVM and EVM technical snags in MP.
It is time Chawla, Chief Election Commissioner wakes up to his responsibilities and acts.
Kalyanaraman

<b>Faults in Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) lead to defeat of Congress in Madhya Pradesh: Srinivas</b>

New Delhi, Jul 1 : Veteran Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Srinivas Tiwari today said defeat of the Congress in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state was due to technical snags in Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs).

He termed the defeat of the Congress in the state a '' defeat on paper''.

In a discussion with UNI reporters at the agency HQ here, Mr Tiwari said there is no transparency in the EVMs because the machine does not clearly show the voter about the party or candidate for whom the vote was cast.

Lack of transparency in the EVMs is against the spirit of democracy, he said.

He strongly asserted that it is the democratic right of voters to know about the party for which they have cast their votes.

He said there is a system followed in many countries where the voters know about the party or candidate for which they have voted.

He demanded that such a system be adopted by the Election Commission ofIndia.

He hailed the victory of the Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections and said the reason behind the victory was that people wanted a stable and single party to come into power.

He said the people have voted with full democratic spirit in the Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier, the Congress suffered because it was doing the ''politics of compromise'' with other parties. But now the Congress has moved ahead and contested the election on its own and due to which it has gained solidarity.

--- UNI

http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-65212.html

http://sites.google.com/site/hindunew/elec...voting-machines

Posted by nizhal yoddha at 7/01/2009 09:35:00 PM 1 comments<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>ELECTIONS BE RIGGED THROUGH EVMs?</b></span>
From Our Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla is sitting over a major scandal of a possible massive rigging of elections by manipulation of software of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

But for the charge levelled by a former Delhi chief secretary five years senior to him in the IAS cadre, Chawla would have rejected such claims of rigging.

Omesh Saigal, a 1964 batch IAS officer of the Union Territory, stunned him with a presentation to force him to order an inquiry into any possibility of such a rigging. Chawla is himself a Union Territory cadre IAS of 1969 batch.

Deputy Election Commissioner Balakrishnan has been asked to conduct the inquiry on the basis of a report handed over by Saigal to the CEC, with a software he got developed to show how the elections can be rigged.

Saigal, who is an IIT alumni, has demanded an urgent check of the programme that runs the EVMs used in elections since 2004. He demonstrated with his software that its manipulation ensured that one has to just key in a certain code number and that will ensure every fifth vote cast in a particular polling booth goes in favour of a certain candidate.

He got interested to find out truth about a score of news reports in Press and on the net about candidates and parties expressing suspicion about the EVMs not recording the votes correctly as he wanted to ascertain whether these EVMs meet the standard of national integrity or safeguards the sanctity of the democracy.

In his letter to the CEC, Saigal alleged that the software written onto the EVMs has never been checked by the Election Commission ever since these machines were manufactured more than 6-7 years back.

His contention is that the EC merely relied on the certificates supplied by the manufacturers, the government-run BEL and ECIL. He alleged that these government firms had subcontracted private parties who actually provided these certificates.

“A public software audit of these machines from time to time, especially after and before an election, was a must to retain the credibility of the elections,” Saigal affirmed, demanding that for the sake of transparency names and ownerships of these private companies must be disclosed as also the details of the factories where they were actually manufactured.

The records retained in the factories must also be immediately taken over by the Commission to prevent any tampering and to facilitate an audit, he said.

He also pointed out how, after nearly two years of deliberation, Germany’s Supreme Court ruled last March that e-voting was unconstitutional because the average citizen could not be expected to understand the exact steps involved in the recording and tallying of votes. Earlier, Ireland had given up E-voting for similar reasons.

In the US too, after considerable controversy the Federal Election Commission has come up in 2005 with detailed voting system guidelines which run into more than 400 pages. Saigal said it is noteworthy that not any of the safeguards mentioned in these guidelines is in place in India.

Saigal said he had gone into all the safeguards built into the E-voting system in India with the help of former colleagues and IT experts and finds it both ‘possible and plausible’ to rig these machines and get a crooked result.

He says if the credibility of the electoral process is to be ensured, pre- and post-election checks of the software now fused onto the chips of the EVMs is a must.

It is not that all the 10 lakh and odd machines used in the poll need to be checked. If we take only those booths where one of the candidates has received 75 per cent of the votes and in constituencies where the margin of the winner is less than 15,000, not more than 7000-odd machines will need to be checked.

Saigal argues in his report that “if we cannot do this we must revert to the paper ballot.” The need for a fair, free and transparent polling system transcends any reasons anyone may have to the contrary, he added.

Saigal says he organised a mock poll on a laptop to demonstrate how the results can be scewed by inserting a numerical code which is so simple. Just press F2, followed by the number of the favoured candidate. The demo showed that this code can be keyed in at any stage, even at the time of the poll by any voter.

Those who attended the mock exercise included Ms Asa Das, retired Secretary, Government of India, K F Fabian, retired IFS officer and former ambassador, Ravi Kathpalia, ex-controller general of accounts, and S K Agnihotri and Dr Krishan Saigal, retired former chief secretaries of Assam.

Saigal says at first glance, it does appear that there are adequate safeguards in place, as is mentioned in the FAQs on the Election Commission website, Returning Officers manual and details given in the website of the manufacturer, BEL.

He, however, asserts in his letter to CEC that there are huge gaps in the safeguards. “Take the assurance of the manufacturer that ‘Programme codes once written and fused in this OTPROM (One Time Programmable Read Only Memory) cannot be read back or altered by anyone including the manufacturer’.

Does this mean that even the Election Commission, when it received the machines, did not check and has not checked since whether the programme fused in by the manufacturer did not have a secret code as a string like the one that we have prepared, Saigal asked.

“If, as it seems, the EC it relying on the certificate given by the manufacturer, we have no protection whatsoever against the manufacturer itself preparing a program like the one prepared by the undersigned and fusing it onto the chip/circuit board,” he affirms.

Once the election process begins, the EC claims total transparency in all its actions. First of all the machines are taken out of storage and sent to the Districts. Thereafter, according to a Govt of India website, ‘….these machines are checked only by the engineers of the two PSUs before each election…..’

Saigal says it is not clear what this ‘checking’ is all about and whether these ‘engineers’ are under the control of the EC. They use some ‘equipment’ to prepare the machine by removing the result of the previous election and do not tamper or check the software chip in any way, the EC claims.

“If this is all they do, why they need to come at all: surely the result could be deleted by simply pressing a button, which any official of EC could do! It is like you and me calling on Microsoft engineers to come in every time we need to permanently delete some program from our desktops!”

The EC claims that among the safeguards is the fact that randomisation is done at many levels so that it is impossible to find out which particular machine will go to which particular booth. Moreover, the order in which candidates are going to be listed in the electoral roll is known only a few days before the poll; so it is not possible for someone to rig the EVM’s software to favour a particular candidate.

Saigal, however, contests it. He says it is easy to say that randomisation will be of no help if the software is tricked. As for the fact that order of candidates is decided only a few days before the poll, with a specially prepared software the poll can be rigged at the time of the poll by any voter, he points out.

“No, these safeguards are mere cosmetics; what we really need is a fool-proof method of checking whether the software in any/all machines has been corrupted through lapse of time or deliberate tampering or was so corrupted in the first place,” the former Delhi chief secretary added.

R.Rajagopalan

http://janamejayan.wordpress.com/

[Husky]

http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/07/raj...a-can-evms.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Friday, July 03, 2009
<b>rajeev in "eternal india": can EVMs subvert elections?</b>
jul 3rd, 2009

this is a survey of the issue as of jun 20th. subsequent revelations have made it virtually certain that EVMs are not tamper-proof.

http://rajeev.posterous.com/can-electronic...-subvert-electi
Posted by nizhal yoddha at 7/03/2009 09:31:00 PM 0 comments <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[ramana]

Can we do a statistics pattern search to see if there are potential rigging going on?

[Guest]

<b>Was Election 2009 rigged?</b>

http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/04/...2009-rigged.htm

[Guest]

<b>EVMs can be easily tweaked: Expert</b>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/E...how/4739375.cms

EVM Rigging is gaining ground in the Sickular newspapers.

[Guest]

<b>Electronic Voting Machines in Indian elections : a security risk</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In India, votes are cast on an electronic voting machine (EVM). The EVM seems to have been touted as the ultimate solution to all ills of the Indian voting process.

However, there is more to it than meets the eye. The entire process may be hacked into, knowing that corruption in India is a legendary phenomenon and people can be bribed to circumvent any law.

There were Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed in Supreme Court of India (SC) for authenticity of voting process using EVM. PIL no W.P©No. 191 OF 2004 was heard on 30 April 2004 and was summarily disposed of.

I carried out this analysis of voting process in 2004. My suggestions are based on my observations and past experience of process design, electronics, security, and corruption studies in India. There are very many improvement possible in the suggestions and with improved connectivity, electronic systems and more informed voter/election personnel, it may be possible to create a largely secure (and easy/simple) voting process.

I think that the entire voting process should be secured and not depend entirely on the security (supposed to be) of the EVM alone. It is the voting process that is important, EVM is a minuscule part of it.

Whenever, one part of the process changes, it has an effect on the other parts. And we need to examine the impact of this change. Election Commission of India (ECI) should have looked at the whole process and not the machines alone. The process is important and all pervading, that is the reason why process design, process mapping, BPR and impact analysis is a big business.

So in the present malformed process of voting, if a state or local election officer replaces the EVM at any point in time, more so after the votes are cast, the process security fails. The signatures, seals, tags and stickers can all be duplicated. Let us not forget that fake stamp papers could be printed by Telgi, with connivance of the Security Press staff, despite all kind sof security and security processes.

About EVM

The EVMs are manufactured by a state owned organisation, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). BEL and ECI consider obscurity and obfuscation as security, however this is really not security. If you look at the texts on electronic/data security/authentication, they all advise on security by openness and not by obscurity. Thats the reason why all encryption algorithms are available freely.

The EVM is based on a microcontroller (I guess a variant of Intel's 8051), on which, the program and the memory can be protected from external read, but that is very low level (and low quality) security and chip centric, based on the premise that security attacks will be at the electronic module level only. For a really adamant cracker, this is breakable.

I've been involved in lots of reverse engineering projects (including using 8051, FPGAs and so on), where in, I reverse engineered by blackbox technique (that is, plainly look at the functionality and mimic external interfaces) and have always been successful. Its similarly possible to change the microcontroller inside, with the one programmed by someone else or to manufacture the entire EVM ab-initio. Inksigned paper stickers and loops are a child's paly to duplicate or hack through.

Incidently, there are electronics design problem leading to severe EMI/EMC issues in the EVM. The long ribbon cable to the button box is easily susceptible to EMI from even the mobile phone. I could attack the machine by building a hand held interference generator.

EVMs do not authenticate with an external process/system/device, then
(a) How do we know that they have the right program in the chip? Is the compiled code's signatures (digest) checked at the time of boot up, by the software?
(b)How do you know that its the right EVM and not a duplicate?

Also, why doesn't BEL make the design available openly? Lets look at the EVM as we examine the Open Source Software and Hardware. Let the security be from the process aspect and not from obscurty aspect.

Also, since there are no papers (ballot papers) to authenticate anything, the security flaws (and mis-adventures of the entire system) can not be detected.

My studies and actual experiences convinces me that it shouldn't take much time to reverse engineer an EVM. The specs of EVM do not talk about the security aspect at all.

Also, let me bring out some more simple hacks, from amongst the ones I can think of :

(a) The software checks for specific number of votes and then starts directing the count for a specific candidate.

(b) The polling officer casts votes in connivance with local polling booth operators/observers.

© During vote counting, the software reads out value of casted votes favoring some one, which may be different from the votes casted for the contestant.

In this context of hackable EVM did ECI/BEL :

(i) get the security aspect examined (and if any encryption has been used) by Joint Cypher Bureau (JCB)? or any other independent organisation of repute? I dont know if any encryption has been used, but even for the best encryption algorithms, wrong implementation can be disasterous.

(ii) open the design and source code for examination? BTW, the EC should have reengineered the authentication process also.

(iii) give out the EVM for cracking to test its security? and find flaws?

There is nothing which prevents any one from creating a duplicate EVM and putting it into the EVM repository or at the booth? I seriously doubt that the EVMs have enough security, internally and externally. ECI should have redrawn the entire process, and should have put extra security elements into the process.

With present scenario of availability of GSM/CDMA/Landline telephone connectivity, the process security can be enhanced to a great extent by use of these elements.

My contention is that there are hundreds of ways to hack into the Indian voting system. ECI should at least analyse the security threats and take corrective actions.

By my reconing, the process should have been something like (in very short) :

(a) all election commissioners (ECs), election officers and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) be given smartcards and their fingerprints captured on the card. All these smartcards should have verifiable MD5 (or any other digest) signatures and unique keys, unique card numbers along with date and time of creation and other security features (take a look at security of financial systems and the key management/authentication sytems employed). These could be issued by the CEC to every one. All being authenticated by smartcards of the CEC.

(b) all polling officers would be similarly issued smartcard+fingerprint based identity cards.

© All EVMs will have an internal serial no and a 16 digit random hardwired code no along with the chip serial nos etc converted into a digest and signed by the CEC's smartcard.

(d) This will be authenticable by any of the smartcards meant for the election process.

(e) Use of smartcard+fingerprint could (in the software) be extended for use of citizen i card of the future, but thats a long unending story.

EVMs :

(a) EVMs to have internal code and memory authentication by using external smartcard and fingerprint of the respective operators (EVM authenticators, EVM certifiers, Polling officers and the counting officers etc, separately for each) so that EVM and its operators could authenticate each other.

(b) EVMs to have GPS module for date, time and location stamping. Also a smartcard reader and a fingerprint reader.

© EVMs to have internal audit trail, which can only be erased by state election officer after authentication as in (a).

(d) EVMs to have 'cover open' and 'core module exposed to light' logging.

(e) Some parts of EVM would always be energised by internal embedded battery to log (d).

(f) The internal circuitary/PCBs etc to be casted in low temp thermoset plastic to ensure that if the plastic is broken, the machine's functionality is destroyed. The prefered manufacturing technique would be COB (chip on board) with non-relaceable parts.

(g) EVMs will have a 'park' or 'pause' button to temporarily halt the process and could be again started by authentication process.

Process :

(a) All EVMs to be checked by state election officers and all data erased using the smartcard and finger print authentication and access mechanism. Process to be date, time and location stamped. Also, State
EC verifies the signature of the software, checks audit trail for misuse/malafied changes.

All EVMs parts inventory with serial nos, will be captured at the time of certification/authorisation into a secure database on a secure PC/server. This will also be captured and logged by the EVM.

(b) EC/election officers would program the EVMs to accept commands from various cards, whose authentication key and serial would be fed in by the EC/election officer. This process would be logged. There may be multiple cards authorised to operate on the same process. This would be the process followed a day prior to sending out polling
officers. All polling officers (their cards and FP) would be authenticated and authorised by the EVMs with the EC/election officer's cards. This would again be logged.

Similarly, counting officers would be authenticated on a specific date.

© All polling officers would be required to setup EVMs, set up the GPS and authenticate the EVM, letting the EVM authenticate the polling officer also. Also, permit the polling officer to do a trial run.

(d) Polling officer will authorise the EVM to start collecting votes by putting his card identifying him/herself with the fingerprint. The EC/state election officers could program the EVM to poll only on a specific date and preset time /time duration.

For authorising each voter, the polling officer's card will need to be in the separate reader, and s/he would press a button to authorise.

(e) the EVMs will keep all information encrypted and with a digest signed by the polling officer.

(f) At the close of the election, the polling officer would stop the process by putting his card and fingerprint, secure summary of data to be transferred to the polling officer's smartcard with date, time and location authentication.

(f) Polling officer would seal the machine and send it to the counting station along with his/her smartcard (to state election officer).

(g) The counting officer would authenticate each EVM and then access data along with the certification code, digest etc.

Additionally, the entire data of the day's polling would also be available in the polling officer's card, which could be used for authentication, tallying and as the voting data if the EVM is not available/does not function/is not readable.

This is a very brief process, catering to some vagaries of changes in polling officers, variation in dates, countermanding and rescheduling elections etc. but lot of other process features can be put in based on the ground realities.

I am sure that given a little time and resources, it is possible to greatly improve the voting process security and simplify security procedures.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

http://atula.newsvine.com/_news/2009/04/18...a-security-risk

[Husky]

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/407380-j...-dominance-dead
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>more on EVM fraud</b>
jul 4th, 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suresh



EVM's are subject to manipulation ...
There is evidence all around the world that EVM's are not a secure way to check popular mandate
The current results - both Tamil Nadu & at the centre - fly on the face of what was expected

Therefore ... http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/04/...2009-rigged.htm

I believe that they were ... specifically the point that it can be rigged to ensure every 4th / 5th vote goes to a particular button on the box OR to allow programming such that any one button (say the one assigned to the italian party) - always gets the vote irrespective of what button is pressed.

All in all ... EVM's are a bad idea given the "security question marks".

For those of you who may nwant to dig deeper & get to the facts ... here is another article

http://atula.newsvine.com/_news/2009/04/18...a-security-risk
(See previous post by AryaK for contents)

<b>And with Navin Chawla at the helm (notice how insistent the congis were to get him to the top job despite some clearly articulated objections to his "ummm-partiality" ...</b>

Best Regards

Suresh

Posted by nizhal yoddha at 7/04/2009 09:03:00 AM 0 comments <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>EVM's supporting documents</b>

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15745499/EVMs-...-Documents

[Guest]

<b>EVMs under scrutiny after PIL filed on faults</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->MUMBAI: Here's an election outcome that nobody has factored in so far.

A recount. However, it so happens that the electronic voting machines being used in the elections are not geared to do a recount, and if any EVM result is questioned, the only option is a re-poll.

Unlike in the US, Indian EVMs do not keep a physical record, or a hard copy, of the votes counted. That's the key point in a public interest litigation filed by retired US professor Satinath Choudhary in the Supreme Court seeking clarification of the same.

Though a little late in the day, with two phases of polling already completed, the PIL seeks the Supreme Court's intervention and direction to bar the Election Commission from using EVMs. The petitioner also wants the SC to direct the election commission to keep a paper trail or record in case of a suspicion about the poll results.

Chief Justice Khare and Rajender Babu heard the petition and directed the Election Commission to hear the complaint and suggestion made by Mr Choudhary. Most of the EVMs used in developing countries, as well as countries like the US, provide for a paper trail. The option of printing out a hard copy, for manual counting in case of doubt, exists in the EVM. The hard copy can then be examined for verification of the actual voting pattern.

Officials of the EVM manufacturing companies, Bharat Electronics and ECIL, had told ET earlier that the Election Commission's design proposal for the EVMs did not require a paper trail. Hence, the Indian EVMs do not have any paper record of the election and there can be no physical recount of the poll results, as happened in the famous Florida recount in the US.

Mr Choudhary claims in his petition that the computer chips that control the EVMs can be easily programmed for all kinds of improper manipulations. EVM manufacturers had told ET earlier that the EVMs are very difficult to hack into or reprogram and the software programme is hardwired into the chip.

However, some smart electronic hacker with physical access to the EVM could find a way to hack into them, given enough time.

The petition claims that the EVMs can be programmed to record all votes for a single party or candidate, and even that a rogue program on EVMs can be triggered by remote or at a pre-set time and date.

Another issue that the petition has raised is that in the process of voting, the control unit is handled by one person only, the presiding officer. Mr Choudhary claims that there should be more than one person among the election officers on duty who should oversee the control unit's functioning.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Advani finds support from rivals on EVM issue</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi: BJP leader LK Advani today found support from rivals CPI(M), JD(S) and LJP on his suggestion for the re-introduction of ballot papers in place of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Advani has not cast any doubts on the results of the Lok Sabha elections but feels the country should revert to ballot papers starting with the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October and some more states later unless the Election Commission was able to ensure that EVMs were fool-proof and every possibility of malfunctioning has been taken care of.

However, the Congress has reacted saying it was an "astonishing" statement of a losing party which was in search of wrong answers for its loss.

There was no immediate comment from the Election Commission as CEC Naveen Chawla and EC SY Qureshi are away on a trip abroad while the other Commissioner VS Sampath is in Hyderabad on leave.

However, Qureshi was earlier quoted as having said that the Commission was absolutely satisfied that the EVMs could not be manipulated and that a technical committee headed by former IIT-Madras director PV Indiresan was in place to
ensure this.

Recently, the controversy over the EVMs gained momentum when former Delhi chief secretary Omesh Saigal gave a presentation to the Commission as to how EVMs can be programmed to manipulate results, after which the Commission asked a deputy commissioner to probe the matter.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said that the party was making it "very clear" that it was not raising any question mark over the recently held Lok Sabha elections in the "absence of any tangible proof".

"It is certainly expected that the Election Commission would ensure after proper enquiry that the EVMs are not subjected to any manipulation or malfunctioning. Till that is done, it is expected that the elections to Maharashtra, Haryana etc will be done through ballot papers," he said.

Prasad noted that in Germany, voting machines have been prohibited while in the US, it is mandatory to provide paper back ups to EVMs. "Now many parts of the world's democracies are following the old system of ballot papers."

The CPI(M) said that the questions being raised about the functioning of EVMs should be considered "very seriously", especially as many countries have reverted back to ballot papers, including developed ones.

"Many questions have already been raised related to EVMs. These are serious issues and if we want to strengthen our democracy then we should consider the matter very seriously," CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Yechury said here.

He said many countries in the world which were using EVMs have reverted back to ballot papers and these included developed countries, with Germany being the latest example.

Addressing a press conference, JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda said that secrecy cannot be maintained in EVMs. "This system should be abandoned. Our party at the all-party meeting before the elections have enlisted the shortcomings of EVMs.

"In EVMs, boothwise details of voting could be known. This could lead to parties intimidating and harassing voters in a particular area," he said. Gowda said the country should go back to the old system of ballot papers.

LJP secretary general Abdul Khalid said his party demanded that the practice of using EVMs should be stopped and the old practice of ballot papers should be brought back.

"EVMs can be tampered at times there are problems even in polling inside Parliament. So how can EVMs be foolproof," he said.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said it was an "astonishing" statement from a top leader of a losing party.

"Advani's comments are the most unfortunate. I hope and trust that they do not betray a lack of grace over the loss in the elections," he said.

Singhvi said he hoped that Advani does not take the country back to the dark ages when India is proclaimed a proud democracy with 1.2 million EVMs in over one million polling booths and 700 million voters and results are out in four hours after counting starts.

However, his party colleauge and another spokesman Manish Tiwari said, though he would go by Qureshi's statement, he would like a wider discussion on the efficacy of the EVMs and whether there could be manipulation at a macro level.

"You know, this is a fundamental concern for democracy. And to that extent, the Leader of Opposition is correct that there is a need for wider probe. "<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_advan...m-issue_1271300

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>CPM, JD(S), LJP also doubt EVM efficacy</b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

Back Advani’s demand for reverting to ballot papers

Despite the Election Commission’s claim about the infallibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs), senior BJP leader LK Advani’s demand for bringing back ballot papers got support from several quarters.

Advani’s call triggered a serious debate about the possibility of ‘error’ and deliberate misuse in the functioning of EVMs and brought into the open what few leaders were ready to discuss in public for fear of being dubbed “bad losers”.

Even as the CPI(M), JD(S) and LJP backed his suggestion for re-introduction of ballot papers in place of EVMs, the Congress reacted by saying it was an “astonishing” statement by a losing party which was in search of wrong answers for its loss. The Election Commission also rejected allegations about EVM functioning, saying it was satisfied about non-tamperability and the foolproof working of EVMs.

Incidentally, former <b>Delhi Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal had last week given a presentation to the commission as to how EVMs can be programmed to manipulate results.</b>

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said his party was making it “very clear” that it was not raising any question mark over the recently-held Lok Sabha elections in the “absence of any tangible proof”.

<b>“It is certainly expected that the Election Commission would ensure after proper inquiry that the EVMs are not subjected to any manipulation or malfunctioning. Till that is done, it is expected that the elections to Maharashtra, Haryana etc will be done through ballot papers,” he said. Prasad noted that in Germany, voting machines have been prohibited while in the US, it is mandatory to provide paper back-ups to EVMs. </b>“Now, many parts of the world’s democracies are following the old system of ballot papers.”

The CPI(M) said the questions being raised about the functioning of EVMs should be considered “very seriously”, especially as many countries have reverted to ballot papers, including developed nations. “Many questions related to EVMs have already been raised. These are serious issues and if we want to strengthen our democracy, we should consider the matter very seriously,” CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here. He said many countries in the world had reverted to ballot papers.

Addressing a Press conference, JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda said secrecy cannot be maintained in EVMs. “This system should be abandoned. At the all-party meeting before the election, our party had enlisted the shortcomings of EVMs. <b>In EVMs, booth-wise details of voting can be known. It can lead to parties intimidating and harassing voters in a particular area,” </b>he said. Gowda said the country should go back to the old system of ballot papers.

LJP secretary general Abdul Khalid said his party demanded that the practice of using EVMs should be stopped and the old practice of ballot papers should be brought back. “EVMs can be tampered with. At times there are problems even in polling inside Parliament. So how can EVMs be foolproof?” he asked.

Reacting to Advani’s statement, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said it was an “astonishing” statement from a top leader of a losing party. “Advani’s comments are the most unfortunate. I hope and trust that they do not betray a lack of grace over the loss in the elections,” he said. Singhvi said he hoped that Advani does not take the country back to dark ages when India is proclaimed a proud democracy with 1.2 million EVMs in over 1 million polling booths and 700 million voters and results are out in four hours after the counting starts.

However, his party colleague and another spokesman Manish Tiwari said he would like a wider discussion on the efficacy of EVMs and whether there could be manipulation at a macro level. “You know, this is a fundamental concern for democracy. And to that extent, the Leader of Opposition is correct that there is a need for wider probe,” he said.

Reacting to the CPI(M)’s concern over functioning of EVMs, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Left party now wanted to revert to ballot papers as it might have found it difficult to “manipulate” the machines which were updated by the Election Commission. “Now that the CPI(M) has been comprehensively defeated in successive elections, it wants to revert to voting through ballot papers since it probably finds it difficult to manipulate the machines which are kept under the custody of the Election Commission,” Banerjee said.

The Railway Minister told reporters before leaving for Delhi that the machines had been modernised by the EC, which said these had been made tamper-proof. “Because of this, possibly the CPI(M) is finding it difficult to manipulate the machines,” she added.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the EC said the tamper-proof technological soundness of EVMs has been endorsed by a technical experts sub-committee appointed at the initiative of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms in 1990. The EC said it has also been consulting a group of technical experts -- comprising Prof PV Indiresan (who was also part of the earlier committee referred to above) and Prof DT Sahani and Prof AK Agarwala, both of IIT Delhi -- regularly on all EVM-related technical issues.

Besides, the commission has in place elaborate administrative measures and procedural checks and balances aimed at total transparency and prevention of any possible misuse or procedural lapses, it added.

“The Election Commission of India is amply satisfied about the non-tamperability and the fool-proof working of the EVMs. The commission’s confidence in the efficacy of the EVMs has been fortified by the judgments of various courts and the views of technical experts,” it said.

The commission will, however, consider all the points raised and apprehensions expressed recently by various political leaders and individuals regarding EVMs and take all necessary measures to clear doubts about EVM elections in the country, it said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Capt M Kumar]

<!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo--> full throttled investigation done by independent online journal:

http://www.politicsparty.com/hatch_analysis.php

[Capt M Kumar]

investigation updates by portal:
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> http://www.politicsparty.com/hatch_analysis.php

[Capt M Kumar]

<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
As the debate on reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) is going on, an election watch-dog and an NGO from Hyderabad demonstrated 'tampering' of EVMs and claimed that these machines could be easily manipulated.

Explaining the possibilities of manipulations and insertions of pre-programmed chips, Hari K Prasad of NetIndia and the NGO Election Group's Convenor V V Rao said the chips are imported from Japan and there is a possibility of giving 60 per cent of total votes polled through the EVMs by one particular candidate (party) if the chips are programmed in such a manner.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/evms-can...ngineer/490785/

[Husky]

http://haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?P...960&SKIN=B
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Demo held to show EVM can be tampered with</b>
17/07/2009 01:12:21  www.expressbuzz.com


HYDERABAD: Disputing with the Election Commission’s claim that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were absolutely tamper-proof, members of Jana Chaitanya Vedika (JCV), along with technical experts, demonstrated today that the machines were tamperable. “The EVMs currently used in elections are vulnerable and tamperable. It is possible to bring a particular political party into power by tampering the machines. Hence the need for the Election Commission to use ballot papers till the EVMs are made fool-proof.

Our intention, however, is not for having ballot system in the country,’’ they said.

NetIndia managing director and technical expert Hari K Prasad, along with JCV president V Lakshmana Reddy, vice-president VV Rao and others, at a press conference here, conducted a mock, actual and modified polling and counting of votes to prove that the EVMs could be tampered with and a favourable result to a particular political party ensured. In one of the demonstrations, they made Lok Satta Party, at the request of mediapersons, gain maximum number of votes vis-avis other parties.

The EVM showed the LSP getting nine votes though it was polled only three (of the total 21 votes).

Programme of a chip could be fixed or set at the time of machine preparation or before the beginning of counting.

Only individual machines (EVMs) could be tampered with but not all the machines at a time, they explained.

They demanded implementation of e-governance policy to ensure implementation of `open standard’ mechanism relating to EVMs. Besides, they also sought development of `verification tool’ to check the programme that drives the EVM.

“We are ready to prove that the EVMs are tamperable if at all we get an access (to EVMs of Election Commission).

There are instances of EVM tampering in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and some other parts of the country in the recent elections. In fact, there was 100 percent polling recorded in some booths in Andhra Pradesh where the votes polled went in favour of one party. Several petitions were filed in various courts in the country on such instances,’’ they said.

Asked about the PIL filed in the Supreme Court, Hari Prasad said the case, which would come up for hearing next week, was filed on technology aspect.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Comments start with news clipping:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> RAJENDRAN
18/07/2009 21:35:01  <b>Questionable EVMs - A confessation by a Congress Leader
How to tamper with voting machines!</b>
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 11
Can electronic voting machines (EVMs) be tampered with?
“Yes”, says Mr Amarinder Singh, president, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, supporting his assertion by giving a demonstration of how an EVM with a cleverly programmed chip installed in it can transfer votes polled by one candidate to another leaving no remnants of the original voting pattern.
“Convinced that these EVMs can be manipulated, we are going to make a presentation to the Chief Election Commissioner, Dr Manohar Singh Gill, in New Delhi next week and request him to revert to the original system of voting using ballot papers. If the commission does not listen to us, we will have no choice but to knock at the door of the judiciary to get EVMs out of the elections,” asserts Mr Amarinder Singh.
Capt Amarinder Singh demonstrates how a “fudged electronic voting machine” works. — A Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan
Mr Amarinder Singh carries a set of EVMs, including the control unit, which during elections remains with the presiding officer of a polling station, and gives a “demonstration of how the programmed chip transfers the votes of one candidate to another”.
“We got suspicious about what we call ‘sophisticated booth capturing’ when we found that there was 129 per cent increase in the votebank of Akalis at Nawanshahr, 100 per cent at Sunam and now 65 per cent at Majitha. The ruling party did well wherever EVMs were used while at other places, we did well. This we did by analysing all elections in the state since 1997,” says the PPCC chief, admitting that “my wife and Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar were elected to the Lok Sabha from constituencies where EVMs were used. But till that time, for the ruling Akali Dal, EVMs were something new and unique.
“But once they put their electronics experts on the job, they could immediately find a solution. Whatever the Election Commission says about EVMs is not true. The mother b<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Other comments:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->saffronite
18/07/2009 19:32:50  nation doomed forever?
Readers please go through the following links.

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/200...-with-evms.html

http://us.rediff.com/www/news/2009/jul/04w...2009-rigged.htm

http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2009/05/cir...-was-there.html

http://www.groupsrv.com/religion/about310538.html


Vijayalakshmi
17/07/2009 06:36:03  Demo held to show.......
There is no doubt that it was selective 'chawlaisation'
that enabled the Con party to capture power in 2009 and 2004.Inspite of the PIL filed by Dr.Satikant Chowdhury in 2004,no remedial action was taken by the Con party, nor did the BJP and other parties insist on it.The result was the repeat of 2004 in 2009!The Central leadership of the BJP is not assertive enough.That is why the Con party is able to get away with
anything!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Capt M Kumar]

Read my brief blog
EVM Dissected
as part of my composite blog:
http://o3.indiatimes.com/rxindiandemocracy/

[Capt M Kumar]

In the new machines, time-wise polling details in the booths could be read and the number of votes polled at a particular point of time on the polling day could be known, Gupta said.

“The new machines, besides recording the vote, will also note the exact time of voting. The new and improved machines will also give hourly updates of balloting”, he said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090724/main6.htm

[Capt M Kumar]

<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> In a statement issued here, Badal said that most of the NDA partners have already expressed their apprehensions on corruptibility of EVMs and it becomes the prime duty of EC to either restore faith of people in the objectivity of election process or revert back to old process of ballot papers.

He said that this relook on the corruptibility of EVMs has become much more imperative after the yesterday's observation of Apex Court that Election Commission should review the working of EVMs.

Badal said that Leader of Opposition L K Advani had already aired his fears about EVMs being hacked in favour of a particular candidate.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/198756_Sukhbir...ty-meet-on-EVMs