Do EVMs Allow for Manipulation? What is the Protocol for VVPAT? Discourse Interpreted

In a simulated election held in Kasargod on April 17, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) of Kerala claimed that at least four electronic voting machines (EVMs) reported votes in favor of the BJP. In advance of the state’s April 26 Lok Sabha election, the mock poll was conducted as part of the EVM commissioning process.

It is said that more VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) slips with the BJP party insignia emerged when the machines were activated for the simulated election.

In order to investigate the inaccuracies, M. V. Balakrishnan, the leader of the CPM and the LDF candidate for the Kasaragod Lok Sabha seat, filed a complaint with District Election Officer Inbasekar K. Muhammad Nasar Cherkalam Abdulla, the agent of UDF candidate Rajmohan Unnithan, petitioned the assistant returning office of the Kasargod Lok Sabha seat to replace the malfunctioning equipment.

Twenty devices were examined by the authorities. On four machines, the VVPAT units awarded the BJP two votes when all ten choices were touched once each. The same four incorrect VVPAT units awarded the BJP one vote when its lotus was not touched, according to Nasar Cherkalam, who was cited by Manorama.

Manorama reported Nasar Cherkalam as saying that he thought it “strange” because neither the Congress hand symbol nor the CPI-M’s hammer, sickle, and star emblem received more votes during the mock trial.

The state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has dismissed the accusations as unfounded. CEO Sanjay Kaul said that the VVPAT slips had the not-to-be-counted message inscribed on them, citing a report from the Kasargod District Collector. This indicates that every slip was produced by four EVMs, demonstrating that the devices operated in accordance with specifications.

All voting devices used in the Lok Sabha Elections, Kaul emphasized, are “completely safe and error-free.”

EVMS manipulation is possible?
Experts have ruled out the prospect of EVM hacking since they are stand-alone devices that are not linked to any other units or systems.

The Control Unit (CU), which accepts the vote and is positioned on the presiding officer’s desk, the Ballot Unit (BU), which displays the names and symbols of the candidates, and the VVPAT, which is linked to both the CU and BU, make up the electronic voting machines.

The vote passes via VVPAT before it reaches the CU because there is a communication gap between the BU and CU. When a voter hits a candidate button on the BU, the BU sends the button number to the CU, which then gets in touch with VVPAT to print the slip, according to the Election Commission of India.

The BU and CU are randomly assigned at least three times prior to arriving at the booth; this is known as location blindness. On the other hand, VVPAT is location-specific and receives candidate data from outside sources.

A specially designed application has been built for the VVPAT to identify votes. Experts claim that there may be bugs in this application. According to a Manorama investigation, because the VVPAT is supplied with data such as candidate names, party names, and symbols in its software, it is easy to manipulate the code by adding more information.

The VVPAT Protocol: What Is It?
In India, the voter cannot check the ballot before casting their ballot. Researchers claim that the three phases of the VVPAT procedure are as follows: first, voters may accept the VVPAT slip before casting their ballot; second, they can cancel their vote if there is a disagreement; and third, they can vote using a different machine.

Five EVMs for each assembly seat shall be cross-checked, according to the Supreme Court. This translates to 20,625 EVMs nationwide. In the country, there are around 11 lakh EVMs in use.

The court is considering petitions asking for the cross-verification of paper slips produced by VVPAT and votes cast on electronic voting machines.

The poll body responded negatively when the court inquired about the presence of software in the VVPAT printer. Every PAT has a 4 megabyte flash memory that is used to store symbols. The electronic ballot is prepared by the returning officer and placed into the symbol loading device. It will provide a symbol, the candidate’s name, and a serial number. There is no preload. It’s picture format, not data.

According to the Election Commission’s testimony before the court, every voting machine goes through a simulated poll. Candidates may choose up to five percent of the machines at random. On poll day, the procedure is repeated. Slips for VVPAT are removed, tallied, and matched. Every machine has a unique kind of paper seal. A seal number may be verified when a machine for counting comes, according to an official.