Making voter lists searchable and releasing the source code of electronic voter machines would help increase public confidence in the electoral system, a citizens’ group told the Election Commission on Friday.
It was among the six suggestions the group of 83 made to the commission in light of a survey showing that only 28% of Indians today retain trust in the Election Commission – “an alarming indicator of democratic backsliding”, they said.
They contended that without a searchable database, citizens have no way to independently verify if all eligible residents are listed as voters or if those who have died have been removed from the official voter list.
“A failure to meet this demand, can only mean that the ECI is not technologically equipped to so provide,” the memorandum added.
Questioning why the source code for voting machines is not publicly available, the memorandum asked: “Why is there such secrecy around an apparently humble source code which does harmless things like recording votes and counting votes for each candidate on Buttons of the Ballot Unit?”
Besides, the group of citizens under the banner of “Vote for Democracy” called for Form 17C data from all booths and constituencies in a searchable format, along with aggregate vote counts for public scrutiny, to be uploaded publicly.
The Election Commission is represented at the polling station by a presiding officer. When voting finishes at a polling station, the presiding officer fills Form 17C, which has details like the number of electors registered at the polling station and the number of votes recorded in the electronic voting machine and the gender-wise break-up of the voters who cast their ballot.
They also demanded public access to voter roll revision forms – Forms 9, 10, 11, 11A, and 11B – in a transparent and searchable database. Additionally, the group sought the release of complete data from each Symbol Loading Unit used in elections and called for Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails to be generated for all EVMs in every election.
They demanded that VVPAT slips should be handed over to voters, who will then be required to place them in a separate ballot box.
A Symbol Loading Unit is used to upload the names and symbols of candidates contesting in a constituency on the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail unit, which is then used to verify votes cast through the Electronic Voting Machines.
The group alleged that electronic voting machines are “riddled with technological vulnerabilities and procedural lapses that compromise their reliability”. Nevertheless, they said that if these recommendations are followed, it may not be necessary to go back to paper ballots.
However, they contended that paper ballots would be preferable if VVPAT machines cannot be strengthened.
Among those who have endorsed the memorandum are former Indian Administrative Service officer MG Devasahayam, former High Court judges D Hariparanthaman and BG Kolse Patil and activist Teesta Setalvad.
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