Why in news?

The Election Commission of India (ECI) released a technical standard operating procedure (SOP) for the verification of burnt memory or microcontrollers in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices.

The SOP has been released in accordance with a verdict delivered by the Supreme Court. It aims to ensure the integrity and transparency of the election process by addressing the issue of verifying votes accurately through both electronic and paper means.

What’s in today’s article?

• Burnt memory of EVMs and VVPAT units
• Background
• Key Highlights of the SOP
• When will this process of checking start
• Criticism of the technical SOP

Burnt memory of EVMs and VVPAT units

• The burnt memory of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and VVPATs (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails) refers to the non-volatile memory in these devices where data is stored permanently, even when the device is powered off.
• This memory contains critical information such as:
  • EVMs: Votes cast during the election, the configuration of the machine, and other operational details.
  • VVPATs: Printed records of the votes cast, which serve as a verifiable paper trail for the electronic votes.

Background

• SC Verdict
  • In its judgment on April 26, 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) during the Lok Sabha elections.
  • It rejected the plea for a return to paper ballots and 100% counting of VVPAT slips.
  • However, the Court allowed second- and third-placed candidates to request verification of the burnt memories of EVMs and VVPATs for up to 5% of machines in an Assembly constituency or a Lok Sabha constituency segment.
    • This verification is to be conducted by engineers from the EVM manufacturers after the election results are announced.
    • Candidates or their representatives can identify the EVMs for verification by polling station or serial number and have the option to be present during the verification process.
    • Requests for verification must be made within seven days of result declaration. The costs for verification are to be notified by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and paid by the requesting candidate, but will be refunded if tampering is found.
• Administrative SOP released
  • Earlier, on June 1, the ECI released the administrative SOP for checking and verification of the burnt memory of EVMs and VVPATs.
    • An Administrative SOP outlines standard procedures for organizational tasks to ensure consistency and compliance, detailing responsibilities and documentation.
    • A Technical SOP specifies technical processes and operations, providing step-by-step instructions to maintain quality and safety standards.
  • Thereafter, eight candidates who had contested the Lok Sabha election, and three candidates for the State Assembly elections in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, had applied for verification of the burnt memory.

Key Highlights of the SOP

• Verification Process
  • The SOP outlines a detailed procedure for verifying the integrity of the microcontrollers in EVMs and VVPATs.
  • The Election Commission of India (ECI) stated that there are various technical methods to verify the accuracy of firmware burned into a microcontroller within research or secure manufacturing settings.
  • Verification can be publicly conducted by using numerous random test vectors as inputs and evaluating the intended outcomes.
• Mock poll of up to 1,400 votes per machine
  • A mock poll of up to 1,400 votes per machine would be conducted in the presence of the candidates or their representatives.
    • Mock polls, of at least 50 votes per machine, are conducted on poll day in the presence of polling agents of candidates, as well as self-diagnosis and mutual authentication of the three parts of the EVM-VVPAT system.
  • If the result of the machines and VVPAT slips are found to be the same, it would be concluded that the burnt memory or microcontrollers have not been tampered with.
• Certain powers assigned to candidates
  • The candidates can select the polling stations, the EVMs, the BUs, CUs and VVPATs that they want checked.
  • The checking would be done by trained engineers from the EVM manufacturers, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL).

When will this process of checking start?

• Verification of EVMs and VVPATs will begin only after confirming from the High Courts that no Election Petitions have been filed for the relevant constituencies.
• Election Petitions can be filed by any candidate or voter within 45 days of the results, which were announced on June 4, making July 19 the deadline.
  • A total of 11 applications have been received, covering 118 polling stations or sets of EVMs and VVPATs.

Criticism of the technical SOP

• The SOP is silent on what would happen if there is a mismatch between the EVM and VVPAT counts during verification.
• Experts said that there is no progress from the established procedure of mock polls that are conducted before polling anyway.
• The judgment said the burnt memory or microcontrollers shall be checked and verified. There is no mention of this in the SOP.