EC announces open challenge for political parties to prove EVM tampering

The Election Commission held a demonstration on the working of electronic voting machines (EVMs) on Saturday amid allegations by opposition parties that the devices are vulnerable to hacking and tampering.

Several opposition parties --  Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- have alleged that the EVMs were tampered with in the February-March assembly elections in five states and the just concluded civic polls in Delhi

Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, also petitioned the poll panel as well as President Pranab Mukherjee about the vulnerability of the EVMs.

A meeting was conducted by EC last week with representatives of 55 political parties to discuss the on-going debate over reliability of the voting machines. The representatives were also asked to give suggestions into how the hackathon can be conducted. After the meeting, the EC said that VVPAT machines will be used in all the upcoming elections so that voters can verify that their votes have gone to the party that they have voted for using a paper slip.