The totalizer was brought in because there was a criticism that due to EVMs, booth level voting patterns were apparent in contrast with paper ballots where the ballot papers would be mixed with other booths papers to ensure anonymity. All the totalizer does is act as an interface to multiple CUs, and gives a count of the total connected CUs. So on the surface, this is a *good* thing.
The argument here is that totalizers somehow assign votes from one party to the other party. Additional votes cannot be added in the totalizer, since there is in all likelihood a paper trail that keeps track of total votes polled per CU and they compare it with Totalizer output. Is this possible in theory? Yes, of course, its a program that has not been audited and can have been hacked. But it would be the most amateurish, stupid and p*ss poor way of rigging an election, even more cruder than stuffing ballot boxes. Here is why:
- The CUs are still around and their output is not deleted. Thus the original count is still around At any point in time one can go back and look at each CU, add things up using a calculator and compare it without a totalizer. An attacker knows this as well, and its difficult to cover his tracks
- The Totalizer cannot change the CU output either, once polls are closed, the CU cannot be changed.
- If idiots like us can figure out totalizer is the weak link, so can the representatives of the polling parties, they will surely have demanded totalizer validation during the testing phase.
BTW, those who accuse of a mass conspiracy: here is a suggestion. At your place of work, try bribing the accountant/cashier whoever, to transfer Rs. 10 to you on a regular basis from your company's account illegally. See how long that conspiracy lasts, with just 2 people in the loop. And then compare it with your proposed conspiracy where 100s are involved.