Elections in 5 states of India have made a word more frequent in recent times- EVM. When asked a few people, they would say it is something that is used in voting and later for blaming. Today we bring you the complete details of what actually EVM is and how is it used to count votes.
As per the Election Commission's definition, Electronic Voting Machine or EVM is voting using electronic means to either aid or take care of the chores of casting and counting votes. In simpler words, EVM records votes of the voter electronically and helps in reducing human effort in recording and counting votes at the time of elections.
EVMs came as a replacement to ballot papers and was first used in No. 70 Parvur assembly constituency in Kerala in 1982.
The machine has two units:
The control unit of the EVM is held by the Presiding Officer at the time of voting while the balloting unit is kept in the compartment for the voters to cast their votes. This is essential as the voter's identity needs to be verified by the Presiding officer. You must note that the officer does not see who you voted for here. He/She is only concerned with your identity.
EVM's run on normal batteries and there is no requirement of electricity in them. A single EVM can be used to record as many as 2,000 votes. If an EVM stops working it is replaced with a new one. The point to be noted is that the votes recorded in the old EVM till that time remain safe in the memory of the control unit. The control unit is able to store the result in its memory until the final data is deleted manually. Changing the paper roll is strictly prohibited at polling stations.
While using EVM, instead of a ballot paper being issued like old times to the voter, the polling officer just presses a button that enables the voters to cast their votes.
A list of candidates' names along with the symbols would be available on the machine in front of the voter with a blue button next to it. The voter needs to press the button next to the candidate’s name they wish to vote for.
The Returning Officer (RO) is responsible for conducting elections in a constituency, which also includes counting votes. The RO is an officer of the government or a local authority nominated by the ECI for each constituency in consultation with the state government.
The RO decides where the votes will be counted for the constituency. The date and time of counting are fixed by the Election Commission.
In an ideal situation, the counting of votes for a constituency should be done in one place, preferably at the headquarters of the RO in that constituency. It should be performed under the direct supervision of the RO.
Every Parliamentary Constituency has multiple assembly segments. In such a situation, counting can take place at different locations for various assembly segments under the direct supervision of an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO).
Counting for each assembly segment of a constituency is performed in a single hall. In each round of counting, votes from 14 EVMs are counted. In the case of simultaneous parliamentary and assembly elections, the first seven tables are used for counting votes for assembly elections, and the rest for parliamentary elections.
The votes counting begins with Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPB) and Postal Ballots (PB). Such votes are counted under the direct supervision of RO. Counting of EVMs begins after 30 minutes of the commencement of PB counting, even if all PBs have not been counted. At the end of each round of counting, the results from 14 EVMs are declared.
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