ELECTIONS ARE OVER OR IT IS NOW OVER TO A NEW CONNUNDRUM
Finally the long elections of 2024 are over. The new government has taken oath to protect the constitution. The election theoretically should have been over with oath taking but it is not happening since several people are still doubting this mystery magic box and there are reasons for this. The reason for these doubts are easy to understand. When in today’s digital world where the entire banking system globally works on digital form and the account balance never changes by itself. It changes only by manual intervention, people are unable to understand how it is possible to get a mismatch in the polled data of Form17C and EVM.
There are reports by several analytics about the discrepancies observed after the honorable ECI published the election results on their web portal. It is observed that several constituencies ( Nearly 500 as per Ms. Agarwal ) out of 543 have anomalies and show votes difference between form 17C data and as counted by EVM. Some were recorded having counted more votes compared to votes polled and some were found having counted less votes compared votes polled as per form 17C.
It is least of my concern that these mistakes could affect the result. What worries me is that it severely damages the sanctity of the elections. I am referring here the report of Ms. Poonam Agrawal, who has taken all the pains to summarise these discrepancies. The election commission’s reply on this to Ms. Agrawal is enough to raise concerns about either the process being followed is flawed or there are mysterious elements in the EVM which are randomly changing the data. Both these reasons are serious enough to cast doubts about the outcome of the poll.
PROBLEMS CAN ONLY BE SEEN IF ONE IS KEEN TO SEE THEM
Let us try to analyse both these reasons.
- Votes counted are more as compared to votes polled data in Form17C
CEO of UP responded to Ms. Agarwal that there may be few reasons why the votes counted could be more as compared to Votes polled. They see the following reasons for this mismatch.
- The mock votes are not deleted before the poll close.
- Error in data entry in form17C.
- Possible voting permission for central staff on duty, how so ever miniscule it may be though even this should have been accounted for in the form 17C data.
My concern is for these two errors which are serious in nature and casts doubts about either the competence of the polling staff or erroneous process that permits this errors getting through without getting noticed. It may be noted that this justification is only for where votes counted are more. There is no justification from any corner about excess in Form 17C votes.
I find it hard to agree with either of the reasons given in the explanation. The first reason about forgetting to clear the mock poll vote , can be on 1 or 2 as exception (Maximum) and not these many. Same is the case with the competence of the staff as all of them are highly educated and experienced. This leaves only the prosses or the pressure on them commit these which are nearly a crime.
2. Votes counted are less than votes polled as per Form 17C.
This question of excess in polled Votes as per form17C remain unanswered by any of EC authorities as yet. What is surprising is that these anomalies are noted despite the assurance by ECI while releasing the data that no discrepancy is now possible.
It is important to analyse this situation threadbare to come to any logical conclusion. To do this, it is important to learn a bit more on possible ways of how the result could be tempered with.
- By accessing the EVM through any external means and change the data, popularly known as hacking .
Election commission and government has successfully diverted the focus of the country on this issue by diverting the attention of EVM issue towards hacking and successfully shielding themselves by saying that the EVM is totally isolated and insulated from any external intervention. They even challenged the hackers to do it. In reality, if EVM is not connected to any external device, does not have any blue tooth connectivity or any internet connectivity and if the machine is kept in off condition , it is not possible. This is the main reason why election commission is so confident on challenging the hacking.
- By colluding with election authorities and one person votes multiple times , as observed in some cases during this election or in strong room.
A typical case of this was reported during this election where a 16 year old boy was voting and reportedly he voted 8 times , and circulated his own video .. Election commission rightly took action on this however this was one such case that surfaced because of the childish behavior of the boy. If he had not made the video, he would have never been caught .
- By programming the machine in such a way that the machine itself manipulates the result anytime before the counting.
This by far the most contentious way of affecting the result. Anyone who knows the working of computers also knows that the program can be written to suit any algorithm. Any programm also known as source code is written in sections known as subroutines . The program can be written in a way that
3.1. code can be written to change the result while the voting in progresses after every vote where the result could be altered to suit any desired objective in the control unit.
3.2. code could be written for mock pole and actual pole separately and no Anomaly would be visible during the test/mock pole.
3.3 The code could be written to change the outcome based on
3.3.1 The difference is a function of flat difference with the nearest rival.
3.3.2 The difference with the nearest rival is a function of overall polling
3.3.3 The vote shift could be programmed as a function of opponents polled votes like every 4 votes polled to nearest opponent, their 5th and 6th or whatever can be changed.
3.3.4 As the real time clock continues to run in the background even when the machine is in strongroom when everyone thinks that machine is in off condotion. The code can be written to change the result in any function. The only drawback with this is that it may not match the VVPAT since during storage they are apparently not connected. This is a calculated risk which hinges solely on the fact that only 5% of VVPAT could be checked for matching.
Solution is possible by when and then — When we recognize the problem then Put resources to eliminate them
To comprehensively analyse the issue, we need to look at the source of this foul play in the source code.
- Hacking is eliminated by isolating the EVM ( CU and BU ) after poll closer.
- The programme alteration is similar to the several virus software that enters into the operating system and remains harmless until it gets activated on a programmed day or event or action. It can be a restart of system, could also be a date or time or any such action. This can enter into the system whenever an external device is connected to the system which could be while symbol loading or EVM software verification during the manufacturing. This software can very well be like Pagasus which could be capable of removing itself from the system after the task is over. 100% counting of VVPAT could be one of the way or more efforts are needed to put this doubt to rest.
The purpose here is not to cast doubts on polling or doubt about any result but only to highlight this to Honourable Election Commission that program coding can certainly be a way to affect the data.
It is thus clear that hacking and program codes are two different techniques and totally different In their approach. Unfortunately, ECI so far never agreed to share the source code to verify this aspect of a possible poll data discrepancy.
To conclude – Request to Election Commission to take cognizance of this mistrust and correct the process flaws if any.
The purpose of this article is to explore all the possible ways and loop holes in the polling system using EVM so as to correct the process and eliminate all the doubts being cast over the EVM. This will surely help to save the reputation of the EVM which is severely getting tarnished by these discrepancies. I am sure that honourable Election commission would take it more seriously than what they are currently taking and will not leave any stone unturned to correct this, if they are found by experts is true.