How Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) Work
In 2019, more than 610 million people in India cast their votes through EVMs at over one million polling stations.
Let’s learn more about the most important player of this election season – the Electronic Voting Machine, or EVM
What is Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)?
At every polling station, several government officials are present to conduct the voting. In the voting compartment, you find two machines in front of you:
the Ballot Unit, which displays a list of candidates for that constituency, and the VVPAT, which prints a slip showing your vote details for verification.
But there is one more important machine managed by an official sitting nearby: the Control Unit. This records your vote. Together, these three devices comprise the EVM system. Let’s see how they work together
How EVM Work?
EVM work with three devices respectively, all they are connect each other secretly. Let’s try to understand all three devices ok. First
#1.Ballot
The Control Unit has a “Ballot” button. When this button is pressed by the official, you can then cast your vote by pressing the button next to your chosen candidate on the Ballot Unit. The Ballot Unit sends information about the pressed serial number to the Control Unit.
are you clearly understand about Ballot, if you have any queries about Ballot then please drop a message in comment box ok. Second
#2.VVPAT(Voter-verified paper audit trail)
the Control Unit instructs the VVPAT to print a slip of your chosen candidate. This slip is visible to you through a transparent window on the VVPAT for 7 seconds and then is stored inside the VVPAT machine.
Now votter process is okay but on button have control unit where from registered your vote. You know about Control unit
#3.Control Unit
the Control Unit records your vote and emits a beep to indicate your vote has been successfully registered.
You may wonder why the Control Unit is kept separate from the other two
machines and not placed in front of you. The answer is simple: What if someone tries to press the Ballot Unit button multiple times to cast extra votes? The EVM takes care of this through the Ballot Button feature. No vote can be registered until the polling officer presses the Ballot Button.
Moreover, the EVM allows a maximum of just four votes per minute to prevent booth capturing. If someone tries to capture the booth, the slow voting rate will give security personnel enough time to arrive at the polling station.
To prevent hacking and tampering, the Election Commission has taken several steps.
Two Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) handle the design, production, programming, and maintenance of EVMs. The program is written on a non-reprogrammable chip, meaning the EVM’s firmware cannot be changed after manufacturing.
Additional knowledge for you
EVMs cannot connect to any network such as Bluetooth, Internet, Wi-Fi, or any other – ensuring they cannot be accessed remotely.