Election Commission to use upgraded, tamper-proof EVMs for Bihar Assembly polls

The Election Commission (EC) is likely to use an upgraded model of electronic voting machines (EVMs) that is tamper-proof for the ensuing Assembly polls in Bihar. This model, also called M3 version of the EVM, automatically becomes inoperative if tinkered with.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Bihar, H R Srinivasa, has asked the District Magistrates (DMs) to procure such EVMs from other states in the next 10 days.

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The move is significant as the EC drew flak during Lok Sabha elections 2019 as charges of EVM manipulation flew thick and fast after the NDA swept Bihar, winning 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats. While those who lost, charged the EC with tampering the EVMs on large-scale, others cited the huge margins of the defeat of prominent candidates to buttress their point of EVM manipulation.

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The Opposition had cited how the CPI candidate and young firebrand student leader Kanhaiya Kumar lost to BJP’s Giriraj Singh in Begusarai with a margin of over four lakh votes, that too when Giriraj was initially himself not inclined to contest from the seat. “Such one-sided result gave rise to suspicion of EVM tampering,” said an Opposition party legislator, citing how the RJD, the largest party in the Assembly, could not win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

However, no concrete proof of such charges was ever submitted by the Opposition to the poll panel. The EVMs then used were M2, compared to the M3, which will be used in Bihar for the first time.

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“The upgraded model of EVMs (M3), which will be used for Bihar Assembly elections, is a third-generation EVM and will become inoperative as soon as it is tampered with,” said a senior official, refusing to be identified.

“All the DMs have been instructed to procure the third generation EVMs in the next two weeks and get the physical verification of 72,000 polling booths done,” said the official.

“Bihar, with a population of around 12 crore, has approximately 7.2 crore voters for the 243 Assembly constituencies. In view of maintaining social distance during polling, there is a proposal to increase polling booths too, so that instead of 1,000 voters per booth, there could be maximum 700 or 800 voters in a booth,” said the official, and hastened to add, “the voters’ list too needs to be revised and updated soon.”