In what may add ammunition to the Opposition’s allegations against EVMs, engineers deputed by the Election Commission have “certified” three of the six machines deployed for polling in the Chenani seat during last year’s Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir to be “non-functional”.
The inspection of the EVMs was carried out on September 18, in accordance with an order by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, after Panthers Party J&K president Harsh Dev Singh alleged that defective machines had been used in Chenani, and sought annulment of the result.
Singh, a former minister, lost from the seat to his cousin and BJP candidate Balwant Singh Mankotia in the Assembly polls – J&K’s first after the abrogation of Article 370 – by a margin of over 15,000 votes. The result was a surprise as Chenani, one of the 18 Assembly segments under the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, was seen as a Panthers Party stronghold.
Singh, a multiple-time MLA from Chenani, is regarded as one of the party’s tallest leaders in the region.
After the inspection of the EVMs on September 18, the EC had said that the only problem that had been found was a “minor clock issue”. This feature in the EVMs, in place since the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, ensures automatic release of hourly voting percentages.
After the court order, a three-member team, including two engineers from the Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India that manufactures EVMs for the EC, had arrived to check the machines.
The engineers certified three EVMs as “non-functional” after their control units failed self-diagnostic tests. A copy of the engineers’ findings was also given to Singh.
As prescribed by the EC, self-diagnostic tests allow candidates who finish second or third in a poll to seek checking and verification of burnt memory/micro controllers of up to 5% of the EVMs used in polling. Accordingly, a mock poll is held, with 14,000 votes cast per EVM, which are matched with the VVPAT slips. If they match, the EVM is considered to have passed the test.
Apart from finding three EVMs to be “non-functional”, the team of engineers labelled a fourth control unit, used at polling station number 6, as “rejected, defunct”.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh said the rules clearly state that a unit which has failed diagnostic tests must be labelled with a red sticker as “non-functional” and sent for repairs. “Such machines cannot be verified on the field and used in polling.”
Deputy District Election Officer Neeraj Bhargav, however, said that the “non-functional” tag was only on the casing of one EVM, and that the machine itself was “functional”. He did not elaborate further. On the three other EVMs, Bhargav said the “minor clock errors” these showed were a technical issue, with “no bearing on the polled data”.
He added: “The machines were also put through mock polling (during the examination) and verification was done against VVPAT slips, which matched. In accordance with procedure, Singh was then given the option of selecting additional EVMs from other polling stations for random verification.”
Singh chose three EVMs, from polling station numbers 16 and 37. He claims: “Even these were found to be non-functional. This selective transparency only confirms doubts about the reliability of the process.”
The Panthers Party leader told The Indian Express that he first applied for the verification of the EVMs soon after the results, and deposited Rs 1.5 lakh as the EC-mandated fee. “I was then asked to get a court order. On July 18, the High Court granted permission, after which the verification was scheduled for September 18,” he said, adding that officials delayed the process citing changes in verification rules, before finally relenting.
Singh claimed that even on September 18, he objected to the absence of a seal and number on the strongroom where the EVMs were stored.
Mankotia said Singh’s allegations were “much ado about nothing”. “He applied for checking and verification of EVMs in three polling stations seven months after the results. We agreed to the request though it was too late,” he told The Indian Express.
Claiming that the EC team, Singh and he signed the form which said that EVMs at two polling stations were “functional with poll data intact”, the Chenani MLA said: “After the third EVM displayed a minor clock error, Singh chose three other random EVMs. He had also expressed satisfaction when the machines were found to be functional, but is making an issue out of it now.”