Should we discontinue EVMs?

[Dileep]

ECIL made the DMM version for non-government use, like co-ops, clubs etc. I do not think those were sold to the EC of any state.

If it was done, the security measures need to be reviewed. A DMM doesn't automatically make it insecure. We will have to analyze it to see if they are.

Being said that, I would strongly oppose its use, because it kind of 'lower the barrier' for the attack vectors. They SHOULD NOT be used for public elections.

[AjayKK]

Two posts from GVLN Rao put focus on accountability of the EC

Review EVMs: Pressure Begins to Mount on the ECI

Top leaders of 13 political parties have submitted a jointly signed memorandum to the Election Commission of India seeking an All-Party meet to discuss the concerns regarding the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The memorandum said, “We have serious apprehension regarding the use of EVMs in elections.” “The gold standard throughout the world today is that there must be a verifiable, physical record of voting for all concerned to repose confidence in the election results,” said the leaders, seeking an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

These leaders included top leaders from across the political spectrum. Among the signatories are front ranking communists led by Prakash Karat (CPI-M), A.B. Bardhan (CPI), Info-tech savvy Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam party), regional satraps like Jayalalthaa (AIADMK), Deve Gowda (JD-S), Ajit Singh (Rastriya Lok Dal) and leaders of ‘social justice’ parties like Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi party) and Lalu Prasad Yadav (Rastriya Janata Dal).

What if the ECI did not respond positively to these concerns? A top political leader of a party this author spoke to observed that the G-13 (group of 13 parties that endorsed the memorandum) would take up the matter with parties in the ruling coalition (many of them like the TMC and NCP sympathise with the cause) and with the government at the level of the prime minister to build a political consensus on the need for reforms in the voting system.

The UPA government is badly dependent on tacit support of some of the parties which are signatories to this memorandum. If these parties push the EVM agenda hard, the government would find it difficult to ignore their concerns.

What remains to be seen is whether the ECI stops being intransigent and inflexible in it’s utterly thoughtless stance on the EVMs (with frivolous statements like they are perfect and totally tamper proof etc.) or adopts a conciliatory or a democratic approach.

If the ECI remains mindlessly adamant, parties would be compelled to adopt a confrontationist approach and amend the Representation of People Act (RPA) making it mandatory to maintain physical record of every ballot cast in the elections.

To me, it appears that it would be easier to get the UPA government with a tottering majority to adopt such legislation unanimously than to count on a recalcitrant Election Commission that seems to stake all its prestige on the EVM issue. Quite unnecessarily so. The next few months would be crucial in our struggle for a verifiable, transparent and auditable voting system in the country. As of now, it is a Thumbs-Up for all those struggling for this ideal.

Questionable Decisions (Part 2) – Use of State Govt. owned EVMs

Did you know that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had used Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) owned by the state governments in 2009 parliamentary elections? If you didn’t, you will find this blog post curious.

The BEL and ECIL, which sell electronic voting machines (EVMs) to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for use in assembly and parliamentary elections also sell EVMs to the state governments hold local body elections.

These state government owned EVMs are directly under the control of the state governments and the ECI has nothing to do with their purchase, storage, usage or checking as local elections are outside the ambit of the ECI.

Days before the first phase of polling in 2009 general elections, the Election Commission had directed the chief electoral officers of states (who work directly under the superintendence of the Election Commission of India) to paste “Election Commission of India” stickers on the state government owned EVMs used in parliamentary elections until the elections were over. (ECI letter no. No.51/8/7/2009-EMS dated 12th April, 2009)


In deploying the state government owned EVMs, the Election Commission of India failed to realize that its decision to commission state government owned EVMs was fraught with serious security hazards. The ‘integrity’ of voting machines that are owned by the state governments and have remained all along in the custody of some state governmental agencies is suspect.

The Congress party leaders have leveled serious allegations against the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Orissa on ‘manipulating’ election results by “illegally” using state government owned EVMs in elections.


I estimate that the ECI had used nearly 3 Lakh EVMs owned by state governments in 2009 parliamentary elections. The Election Commission has so far not revealed any information as to where these machines were used in 2009 polls.

The UPA's problem is that its own allies do not trust them and expect some manipulation in state level polls. All they are saying is : Trust but Verify

[Pranav]

I think by now all parties except the Congress feel that EVMs are prejudical to their interests.

This pdf file is the letter to the EC signed by heads of 13 parties: http://indianevm.com/pdf/EVM_MEMO_TO_ECI_13_PARTIES.pdf

Interestingly, the BJP is not a signatory, despite the fact that both LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari have expressed concerns about EVMs. In fact Advani wrote the foreword to GVLNR's book. Perhaps there is a conflict within the BJP on this issue.

[ramana]

They dont want to be accused of being sore losers even if the charges are true. And thus detracting from the charges of EVM tampering.
Despite all the techincals being right, the perception is the EVMs are not tamper proof. And that perception will cast doubt on govt legitimacy. Something to think about for INC.

[Pranav]

Despite all the techincals being right ...

Nobody (not even Hari Prasad) has checked the foreign-installed binaries as yet, nor do we know anything about the source code produced by the small, secretive clique of 4 to 5 individuals at the PSUs.

They dont want to be accused of being sore losers even if the charges are true.

The election is long past ... don't think the "sore loser" charge can apply at this stage. This is about the next election, not the last one.

If the desire to not be perceived as sore losers is preventing them from raising legitimate issues of national interest, then their priorities are rather skewed, one must say.

[Sanjay M]

Here's an old article from last year, about Twitter Mining (or "Mining the Thought Stream")

http://techcrunch.com/2009/02/15/mining ... ht-stream/

I was monitoring the UK elections through Twitter, since it has the best realtime updating for local events. I'm wondering if Twitter can be used to affect electoral outcomes or even stock market behavior, given its quick realtime updating and its dual monitoring and broadcasting ability.

We worry about EVMs being used to rig elections. But we also know that Congress and other parties use outbound call-centers to solicit votes. Could Twitter be used in the same way, to dynamically adjust campaign pitches even while an election is unfolding? Or what about while a stock market is undergoing some large gyration?

Does this pose any possible danger to India, which has a huge number of cellphone SMS users?
Could Chinese/Pakistani hackers use SMS text broadcasting to sew mass panic and exacerbate certain situations, for example?

[Pranav]

It seems the US wants to promote Indian EVMs in third world countries like India, with millions of illiterate people.

Hillary Clinton praising Indian EVMs in Phillipines: http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/n ... linton.htm

"India adopted automated computerised voting several elections ago. We think about India with more than a billion people, something like a half a billion, 600 million vote, illiterate people vote by looking at the pictures on the punch card ..."

Hillary praises Indian EVMs in US Senate: http://electionlawblog.org/archives/ear-clinton.doc

“Well, how did that happen? And the response I received was that India had the equivalent of a Federal Reserve Board running their elections, taking it out of political parties completely, overseeing that how it would be conducted would be beyond reproach. They voted on computers, I’m not exactly sure what kind, but they had a computer system that had several fail-safes in it, both in the local voting place, at a regional server center, and nationally so there were no questions that whether you were a dot-com billionaire in Mumbai or an illiterate peasant in Rajasthan you were voting in a way that guaranteed confidence in the outcome.”

Hillary explaining how the CFR tells her "what the State Dept should be doing and how we should think about the future.": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6TXcQpgC9Q

[Pranav]

Bad move by Gujarat -

Gujarat to introduce e-voting for civic polls : http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article431883.ece

Online voting introduces a whole universe of new vulnerabilities.

[KarthikSan]

Rahul Mehta might have some support from Michigan!

US scientists 'hack' India electronic voting machines

Scientists at a US university say they have developed a technique to hack into Indian electronic voting machines.

After connecting a home-made device to a machine, University of Michigan researchers were able to change results by sending text messages from a mobile.

Indian election officials say their machines are foolproof, and that it would be very difficult even to get hold of a machine to tamper with it.

Don't know which of the bolded parts is true. I have no knowledge of embedded systems. Maybe somebody can confirm if this is even possible provided they were able to get a machine.

[RamaY]

Muppalagaru,

w.r.t one of your old posts. Can the surveys and intelligence reports predict the constituencies that will have close competition?

Did you complete your analysis on 2009 elections and find any supporting horses like PRP/LS in other states?

I was reading this predictioneer's game and my mind is going everywhere and it is very easy to manipulate the events in conjunction with EVMs; especially given the absence of history/record.

[Muppalla]

w.r.t one of your old posts. Can the surveys and intelligence reports predict the constituencies that will have close competition?

Yes they can predict. IB also uses surverys by the pandus and babus. The party in the government ( rich ones) will appoint multiple independent survey and compare with IB surveys. The game is about what to survey and what is not needed. For example INC will always survey Maharastra and AP to the maximum extent possible. These are the two states, that it will prefer manchurian candidates, and every other means in the current scenario. 2014, it will be interesting to watch UP if all the current trends indicate.

Did you complete your analysis on 2009 elections and find any supporting horses like PRP/LS in other states?

We did a little bit and then we got bored of doing this analysis of the just completed election. We are still having the interest and will complete one day. We have four more years to go Recently we just glanced over the AP LS results Vs. Assembly results. Every single seat is very close here and EVM fraud if at all happened (which now I beleive occured) may have occured maximum in AP.

In MH, on paper it seems that INC+NCP reaped benefit due to MNS. But the tricky part there is NCP lost most and INC not that much.

The trick across the nation is that the partners of INC are the ones who lost most irrespective of the factors and that is what looks fishy. Even without assuming EVM etc., when two parties stand as a coalition and that coalition wins they should win evenly but INC wins in such a way so that the other partner will not have much room to manipulate after the polls. That is the real masterstroke.

[KarthikSan]

Edit: I did not notice until I watched the complete video. RM is acknowledged at the end. Take the video FWIW and a whole boat load of salt.

[RamaY]

We did a little bit and then we got bored of doing this analysis of the just completed election. We are still having the interest and will complete one day. We have four more years to go Recently we just glanced over the AP LS results Vs. Assembly results. Every single seat is very close here and EVM fraud if at all happened (which now I beleive occured) may have occured maximum in AP.

In MH, on paper it seems that INC+NCP reaped benefit due to MNS. But the tricky part there is NCP lost most and INC not that much.

The trick across the nation is that the partners of INC are the ones who lost most irrespective of the factors and that is what looks fishy. Even without assuming EVM etc., when two parties stand as a coalition and that coalition wins they should win evenly but INC wins in such a way so that the other partner will not have much room to manipulate after the polls. That is the real masterstroke.

Agree with the above. But how is this (the variable impact on INC and its alliance partner by the same Manchurian candidates = MNS) being manipulate is the topic for this thread.

I would like to see if we can feed this into a mathematical model and see if we can predict 2014 outcomes.

more in email.

[Raja Bose]

Rahul Mehta might have some support from Michigan!

US scientists 'hack' India electronic voting machines

Scientists at a US university say they have developed a technique to hack into Indian electronic voting machines.

This is the Bluetooth radio based hack that vhkprasad's paper is outlining. Again - possible but extremely risky of getting caught since the BT name is visible to both the intruder and others. Simple yet very effective measures were already given on this board as to how such kind of hardware replacement based tampering can be thwarted.

[Dileep]

Karthik, read the previous page for comments on the attack.

Those who ridicule the 'paper and wax' seals tend to forget that exactly the same type of seals protect the ballots.

[Muppalla]

On the contrary, the EC and Prof Indiresan are likely to defend themselves.

If they give a hint of admission that the vectors are remotely viable, then the anti-EVM crowd are going to immediately demand the scrapping of all the EVMs, which is an overkill.

The action that I would propose would be to recall the machines to ECIL in batches, examine them, and then seal the enclosure with a hot welded seal bearing a serial number. Any further production should also have this seal. It would eliminate all forms of tampering in the field.

Indrasen wrote an article and though he admits but with a tonne of defence.
TAMPERING CUMBERSOME

Peculiarly enough, there have been persistent and determined efforts to discredit EVMs at home, at any rate in Andhra Pradesh. A determined group has been attacking the EVM as unreliable on the ground it does not have what is called a “paper trail”. A few weeks ago, they went to the extent of having a two-hour demonstration on a TV station to show how EVMs could be compromised.

In their demonstration, the critics stole a machine (apparently from Maharashtra) and replaced the display in such a manner that it showed results that were different from the polls cast. To a layperson, the demonstration was quite impressive but, actually, it had several faults.

One, the results are not taken from the display but from the memory inside. Hence, the results that would be printed out would not be affected at all. Two, in any general election, several lakh EVMs are used. Even if a select 10 per cent of them are manipulated, something like 70,000-80,000 machines will have to be attacked.

I don't like to put a point-by-point rebuttul. I see it very defensive. If there is vulenerability, there are parties who are smart and they will use that hole. Just brushing off it is ok is height of stupidity from the uber-super Profffffessor.

Here is the GVLNR's response in the blog:
http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=128

[Pranav]

Censor glare on Rajneeti

Sources said the majority of censor board members felt there were four problem areas: denunciation of electronic voting machines (EVMs), derogatory references to women in politics, explicit anti-Muslim dialogues, and intimate scenes and excessive violence.

[Vipul]

US scientists hack into India's EVMs, expose flaws.

[Gerard]

Case for electronic voting machines

In the good (bad) old days thousands of votes could be stuffed in half an hour and marauding parties could go from booth to booth capturing them by sheer force. With the EVMs, no more than five votes can be cast in a minute. Hence, the productivity of the booth capturers is reduced 20-30 times. No party has found it worthwhile to employ such people.

Two things protect the Indian EVMs: One, their simplicity; two their numbers. Once, I asked a former cabinet minister about the EVMs. He was categorical — they cannot be tampered. Apparently, he had tried and failed.

No machine is perfect; every machine can be bugged. That is not the issue. The real issue is whether such a change is sustainable. The number of EVMs is so large that not enough of them can be altered without detection. That is why the EVMs are safe.

[ArmenT]

US scientists hack into India's EVMs, expose flaws.

Wasn't just US scientists. There was a Dutch chap as well as at least two Indian citizens, Mr. Prasad and Mr. Rao, who were significantly involved in the process. In fact, both Indians involved posted here about the details.

[niran]

US scientists hack into India's EVMs, expose flaws.

the piece says 2 method to take control
both methods involves physically tampering the boxes,
which have been proved undo able right in this very thread.
guess expecting common sense from DDM is an oxymoron.

[vijayk]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/slow-start/622459/0

CHIEF Election Commissioner Navin Chawla retires on July 30 this year and will hand over to his likely successor, S Y Qureshi, a hot potato. Chawla, during his tenure, has not been able to resolve the contentious issue of whether Election Voting Machines (EVM) are foolproof and it’s unlikely that his successor will have the luxury of burying the issue under the carpet since there is an increasing number of techies on the Internet insisting that they should be given a chance to prove that EVMs can be rigged. The EVM disbelievers are using blogs, Facebook, twitter, Orkut, etc to establish their case. In Pune, some scientists claim that they unauthorisedly got hold of an EVM and demonstrated that it is not tamper-proof.


On the directions of the Supreme Court, representatives of the Hyderabad-based NGO, Election Watch, wanted to demonstrate the weaknesses of EVMs in front of Election Commission officials. But the meeting ended abruptly when the NGOs tried to fiddle with the machine. The machine manufacturers cite the laws of intellectual property and confidentiality to disallow anyone from examining the insides of an EVM.

[ramana]

Case for electronic voting machines

In the good (bad) old days thousands of votes could be stuffed in half an hour and marauding parties could go from booth to booth capturing them by sheer force. With the EVMs, no more than five votes can be cast in a minute. Hence, the productivity of the booth capturers is reduced 20-30 times. No party has found it worthwhile to employ such people.

Two things protect the Indian EVMs: One, their simplicity; two their numbers. Once, I asked a former cabinet minister about the EVMs. He was categorical — they cannot be tampered. Apparently, he had tried and failed.

No machine is perfect; every machine can be bugged. That is not the issue. The real issue is whether such a change is sustainable. The number of EVMs is so large that not enough of them can be altered without detection. That is why the EVMs are safe.

The charge is also that all EVMs dont need tampering only the ones in key constituencies. When the writer admits that "no machine is perfect; every machine can be bugged" he just made the case.

In old days of "booth capturing", the fraud was open and very evident. And often led to re-polling.

In this case of selective EVM tampering the fraud is latnet/hidden, yet devastating to the losers and with no recourse of re-poll.

[Pranav]

Nod for Rajneeti with cuts on EVM - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100527/j ... 492776.jsp

For Prakash's Jha's 'Raajneeti', Congress played first censor - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 982545.cms

Also: http://m.indiatoday.in/itwapsite/story? ... &secid=114

[Pranav]

Question mark over EVMs in world’s largest democracy

Thannganing Hungyo


Ukhrul | May 23 : The manipulative use of Electronic Voting Machines in India has come to the fore after an investigation has revealed how trickery was employed to stage-manage results of Manipur's 44 Ukhrul Assembly Constituency during the assembly elections in 2007.

Ukhrul's Deputy Commissioner, N Ashok Kumar, has confided that the machines used for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections were not the same ones used in the 2007 assembly elections. "No, the same machines (of 2007) were not used in 2009," Kumar told this writer.

Reliable sources have confirmed that the EVMs are currently kept in a strong room in the police station at Ukhrul District Hq, and that data in them are still intact. The Election Commission of India had barred the use of the machines for the 2009 parliamentary elections. They are in the centre of a controversy. Most of the electorate too seems to be unaware that the EVMs are in safe custody under lock and key at the police strong room.

The reliability of EVMs has been repeatedly challenged over the past couple of years, with campaigns led by political stalwarts such as L K Advani.

A strong charge was made by the Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front (MNRF), a rebel group based in the hills of Manipur in this regard. Late last month the MNRF had, in local newspapers of Manipur, stated that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) of 44 Ukhrul Constituency in 2007 were tampered with after former Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal – a tainted bureaucrat accused of involvement in the killing of SDO, Dr. Kishen, and two others – had orchestrated the entire exercise. Intelligence sources, too, are apprehensive that a larger and darker conspiracy lurks behind this issue, with multiple stakeholders involved

The results were tampered with between February 8 and 27, 2007, the dates between polling and counting. The fact that 10 EVMs were brought to the residence of the then DC, Pankaj Kumar Pal, during this period, is now an open secret.

The Times of India edition of May 21, 2010, carries an article - Tamper-proof? Scientists show EVMs can be hacked - In the article, Deputy Election Commissioner Alok Shukla’s assertion that, ‘… nobody can open the machine without breaking the seals’, still relies on the assumption that ‘election insiders’ can be trusted. But researchers said the paper and wax seals can easily be replicated.

A study of the report of the Expert Committee, September 2006, constituted by the Election Commission of India, headed by Professor P.V. Indiresan, confirms that the new and improved Indian machines have reached a milestone in the history of electronic voting.

However, it is ironical that the credibility of these sophisticated improvisations necessarily depend on the integrity of the Election Officials, which in this case has been found wanting.

Perhaps it's time to revert to the Ballot Paper of yesteryear.

www.morungexpress.com/regional/49229.html

[vera_k]

If it is assumed that the EVMs are being manipulated, by local insiders, then it must be assumed that such insiders loyal to BJP would be doing so, especially in states with BJP administrations. This would explain why the BJP does not sign up to oppose the EVMs outright.

[Raja Bose]

If it is the EC itself which cannot be trusted and is peppered with insiders with biased agendas, then regardless of whether you use EVM, paper ballot or quantum computing to record votes, they can be tampered with. It does not prove or disprove the security (or lack thereof) of the EVM vs the paper ballot.

Unfortunately such arguments about insiders come out when people disputing the security only prove the technical feasibility of an exploit but not the process feasibility which is where most fail. Furthermore, such arguments about insiders apply equally to all systems regardless of whether they are electronic or not so in the end they mean nothing.

Its like saying that our nuke missiles are safe because they require 2 people to simultaneously press the launch button after authentication. However, it is entirely possible that both these persons are rogues (hence, technically feasible to exploit the safety mechanism) but the probability of such a thing happening is very low (hence, process feasibility for exploitation is low). Does that mean our nukes are unsafe?

When the writer admits that "no machine is perfect; every machine can be bugged" he just made the case.

People forget one thing: There is no system in the world which is 100% secure. To believe in the existence of such a system is foolishness. Hence, any debate about security must be seen in that light.

[vera_k]

As it is, there is zero possibility of detecting if an EVM is tampered with, or if the EVM functioned correctly throughout the polling process. I think a compromise could be for parties to have separate booths outside the EC booth to record who voted which way. That way further action can be taken if the two counts don't match up reasonably well.

[chaanakya]

Everything depends on the integrity of the election machinery put in place to hold the elections. EC has overall control but the implementation of process depends on the officials on the field, observers Returning officers , presiding and polling officers etc. No mater what process you follow, unless these people work with integrity, elections would always be questioned.
It is not that paper polling process is entirely fool proof. Those who are directly connected with the process would understand how thin margins can be converted into victory or defeat.

The question that EVMs are fitted with transmitting devices or some sort of logic which makes it possible to temper, again rests on integrity of EC and officials and persons who are put in charge of certifying EVMs. Technically it is not difficult, as bluetooth, wireless and assorted means of communication can be embedded.They are too small and need too little power to operate.

One can easily conceive a scenario where one of the observer/polling agent/officials, surreptitiously deputed by pliant EC/local govt/party to change the voting, visit polling stations in AN and issues a simple command through some device to change votes count or transfer vote counts to favoured candidates. However one can easily detect if EVMs/or other such external devices are transmitting/receiving within polling booth. Of course, if internal logic is such that it transfer votes automatically then it is different. Process of randomisation might be able to take care of such possibility. Allotment of symbols and listing of candidates on EVM is doubly randomised with help of NIC and done few hours before in presence of party representatives/candidates themselves and EVMs are allotted boothwise in random fashion. This process is well laid down and EC simply gets report, has no other control. Unless reports, from multiple sources, indicate otherwise, EC would not interfare.

During Sheshan times, there used to be mixing of ballot papers to avoid identifying areas favourable to a candidate thereby incurring wrath of looser or winner later on. In EVM this is not possible as you know the polling booth wise counts.


But unless you cast doubt on the whole thing, individual EMVs are just one tool in the process. I can tell you that barring few exceptions, election process in India is very thorough and managed professionally and to cast doubt on large number of unrelated officials would be entirely unfair. Results ,as such, do not indicate that any kind of large scale fraud is being committed. As pointed out by some brf members, different parties would not have come to power or lose power after elections.

[muraliravi]

Nod for Rajneeti with cuts on EVM - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100527/j ... 492776.jsp

For Prakash's Jha's 'Raajneeti', Congress played first censor - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 982545.cms

Also: http://m.indiatoday.in/itwapsite/story? ... &secid=114

I just saw Rajneeti and as far as I can judge, it had every derogatory reference to EVM. Maybe the original movie had even more utterances on EVM's. But what i saw had enough to convey the point.

[vera_k]

Did you watch it in India?

[muraliravi]

Did you watch it in India?

Saw here in the US on the web. The web version is a bootleg the theater version in some indian movie hall.

so i would assume it is the same version shown in the theaters. I can anyway verify with my friends and or someone here on the forum can verify.

[muraliravi]

even gvl writes on that (wrote on june 5, movie was released on june 4th, meaning he wrote after he saw the movie)

http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=194

[Muppalla]

even gvl writes on that (wrote on june 5, movie was released on june 4th, meaning he wrote after he saw the movie)

http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=194

Movies as the medium have a huge impact. Rajniti may have begun a new subject and streak in dealing with the subject of EVMs in Indian cinema. There is, however, only limited window of opportunity available for the producers to exploit as the EVMs are going to be history in less than two years; something I said before and stand by even now.

GVLN Rao garu, I am surprised by your confidence. How are you so sure sir that EVMs will be history in two years? Can we all assume something big is cooking?

[ShyamSP]

even gvl writes on that (wrote on june 5, movie was released on june 4th, meaning he wrote after he saw the movie)

http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=194

Movies as the medium have a huge impact. Rajniti may have begun a new subject and streak in dealing with the subject of EVMs in Indian cinema. There is, however, only limited window of opportunity available for the producers to exploit as the EVMs are going to be history in less than two years; something I said before and stand by even now.

GVLN Rao garu, I am surprised by your confidence. How are you so sure sir that EVMs will be history in two years? Can we all assume something big is cooking?

Cool. So Congress is out after 2 years

In recent California primaries, they had EVM voting but those machines had paper trial where vote is printed in glass box that one can see what is voted before confirming vote.

If such paper-trial-EVM method is expensive for India, it had better go with the paper voting.

[Pranav]

In recent California primaries, they had EVM voting but those machines had paper trial where vote is printed in glass box that one can see what is voted before confirming vote.

That is less than satisfactory, because the machine can be programmed to print more votes than actual voters.

Meanwhile:

TRS to field dummies to defeat EVMs : http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad ... 87730.html

EVMs: TRS plan may put EC in a fix : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 136616.cms

Best wishes to TRS!

[RamaY]

^ Not so fast.

EC has decided that it will use EVMs even if there are more than 64 candidates. Current architecture supports 4 EVMs x 16 candidates connected to one controller.

EC has asked the manufacturer to increase the number of consultants to bridge two controllers so it can support up to 128 candidates.

Telugu News Paper: http://eenadu.net/panelhtml.asp?qrystr=htm/panel8.htm

[Sachin]

EC has asked the manufacturer to increase the number of consultants to bridge two controllers so it can support up to 128 candidates.

. If they showed the same enthusiasm in alleying the people's fear about vote rigging, how nice it would have been. But alas.. if wishes were horses...

[Pranav]

^ Not so fast.

EC has decided that it will use EVMs even if there are more than 64 candidates. Current architecture supports 4 EVMs x 16 candidates connected to one controller.

EC has asked the manufacturer to increase the number of consultants to bridge two controllers so it can support up to 128 candidates.

Telugu News Paper: http://eenadu.net/panelhtml.asp?qrystr=htm/panel8.htm

I think this is a valid ground for civil disobedience. If political parties can protest against price rise, then they certainly ought to be protesting non-transparency and non-verifiability in elections.

[RamaY]

Good work KCR!

TRS's strategy partially worked. By the end of the dead line 986 nominations were filed in 12 constituencies. The state election commissioner plans to use paper ballets if the number of "valid" applications are >64.

So except for Nijamabad-Urban constituency where 19 nominations were filed, all other constituencies have a chance to get paper ballets.

http://www.andhrajyothy.com/latestNewsS ... est/9new51

ఎలక్ట్రానిక్ వోటింగ్ మెషిన్ (ఇ.వి.ఎం.)లు లోపభూయిష్టంగా ఉన్నాయని కొన్నాళ్లుగా విపక్షాలు అసంతృప్తితో ఉన్న విషయం తెలిసిందే. ఎంత అభ్యర్థించినా ఎన్నికల కమిషన్ మొండిగా వ్యవహరిస్తున్నదంటూ, ఈ విషయంలో ఇ.వి.ఎం.లను తప్పించాలంటే ఎక్కువ సంఖ్యలో నామినేషన్లు దాఖలు చేయడమే మార్గమని టి.ఆర్.ఎస్. నాయకుడు కె. చంద్రశేఖర రావు విజ్ఞప్తి చేయడంతో పెక్కుమంది ఇండిపెండెంట్లుగా నామినేషన్లు దాఖలు చేయడంతో 12 నియోజకవర్గాలకే దాదాపు 1000 మంది అభ్యర్ధులు బరిలో నిల్చినట్టయ్యింది.

తెలంగాణా రాష్ట్ర సమితి (టి.ఆర్.ఎస్.) వ్యూహాత్మకంగా వ్యవహరించడంతో చివరికి ఎన్నికల కమిషన్ ముందు ప్రత్యామ్నాయం లేకపోయింది. అభ్యర్థుల జాబితా పరిమితికి మించి ఉండడంతో ఇ.వి.ఎం.లతో గాక బ్యాలట్ పత్రాలతోనే పోలింగు జరపదలచినట్టు ఎన్నికల కమిషన్ ప్రధానాధికారి సుబ్బారావు శుక్రవారంనాడు ప్రకటించారు.

ఉపఎన్నికలకు నామినేషన్లు సమర్పించడానికి గడువు శుక్రవారంతో ముగిసిందని, గడువు ముగిసే సమయానికి మొత్తం 986 నామినేషన్లు అందాయని సుబ్బారావు వెల్లడించారు. ఉపఎన్నికలకు సిరిసిల్లాలో 96 నామినేషన్లు, వేములవాడలో 91, మంచిర్యాలలో 74, ఎల్లారెడ్డిలో 114, నిజామాబాద్ (అర్బన్)లో 19, వరంగల్ (పశ్చిమ)లో 98, సిద్దిపేటలో 94, ధర్మపురిలో 94, కోరుట్లలో 83, సిర్పూరులో 83, హూజూరాబాద్‌లో 75, చెన్నూరులో 85 నామినేషన్లు దాఖలు అయ్యాయి.