EVM tampering: Arun Machaiah to approach high court

Suspecting hacking of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and tampering of the software, Congress leader Arun Machaiah, who lost the recently held Legislative Assembly election from Virajpet constituency, said that he will approach the high court.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he said in spite of the Supreme Court guidelines on not to use EVM-2 (second model), the same EVMs have been used in the election. About 13 lakh EVMs were brought from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. What was the purpose behind it? he asked.

“In the name of exercising franchise, a hackers’ team had visited a few polling booths and installed an equipment below the EVMs. Later, using laptop from two kilometres away from the polling booth, the EVMs have been hacked. Before the conclusion of the polling, another man from the hackers’ team had visited the polling booth and took away the equipment placed below the EVMs. All those, who were part of it, are absconding and it is suspected that a professor from Kodagu led the team,” he charged.

Machaiah said the EVMs have been misused in some Assembly constituencies in Dakshina Kannada too.

All those who lost the election had recently met and contacted experts from Japan, who in turn claimed that the EVMs can be hacked, he explained.

Suspecting the highest turnout in Napoklu and surrounding areas, he said that the region had not recorded more than 70% polling so far.

But this time, a few polling booths have recorded more than 85% polling. What is the reason behind it? he asked.

He said that one can file an objection to the polling within 45 days.

Accordingly, he has filed complaint to the district electoral officer and cyber crime police. The election process should be transparent. Some countries no longer use the EVMs, he said.

Arun Machaiah lost to BJP’s K G Bopaiah by a margin of 13,000 votes in the Assembly election.