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EVM Row: Arvind Kejriwal Terms EC Backing Out of Hackathon ‘Sad’

The poll body will demonstrate security features of the electronic voting machines on Friday.

Updated
India
5 min read
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Snapshot
  • Arvind Kejriwal termed EC backing out of Hackathon “sad”
  • The Election Commission held an all-party meeting to discuss the EVM issue on Friday
  • This comes a day after AAP workers protested outside the poll body’s office on Thursday as part of their ‘Save Democracy Campaign’
  • The protest was held in the wake of party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj demonstrating how EVMs can be ‘manipulated’
10:27 PM , 12 May

Sad EC Backed Out of 'Hackathon': Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday claimed the Election Commission has "backed out of the proposed hackathon" to ascertain the reliability of EVMs and said it was a "sad" move.

Kejriwal made the remarks despite Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi stating at an all-party meeting earlier on Friday that the EC would soon offer parties an opportunity to prove that EVMs can be tampered with.

The Delhi CM was therefore possibly referring to fact that the poll panel had not agreed to AAP's demand of handing over an EVM to it to prove its hacking allegations.

After the all-party meeting, Kejriwal's deputy Manish Sisodia too made a similar comment. The AAP leader had sought to know why the poll panel was "scared" of holding a 'hackathon' if electronic voting machines cannot be tampered with.

We had manipulated an EVM in the Delhi Assembly a few days back. We request the Election Commission to give us one of the EVMs used in the five state Assembly polls and we will also hack into it.
Manish Sisodia
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8:52 PM , 12 May

Will Hold EVM Challenge With Machines Used in Recent Polls: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said on Friday that the EC will hold a ‘challenge’ that will offer political parties an opportunity to prove that the EVMs used in the recent Assembly polls were tampered with or that EVMs can be tampered with.

The CEC was speaking at an all-party meeting held on the EVM issue. This is the first time he had spoken on record about the EC's proposed EVM ‘hacking’ challenge.

Although the use of VVPAT (voter-verifiable paper audit trail system) with EVMs will ensure total credibility and transparency and put to rest all controversy, the Commission will, after today’s meeting, hold a challenge.
Nasim Zaidi

He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge.

Zaidi also said the Commission has "no favourites" and it was equidistant from all parties.

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8:52 PM , 12 May

After EC's Plea, HC Says its Order on EVMs Need Not be Taken as a Precedent

The Uttarakhand High Court, which had directed the judicial magistrates of six Assembly seats to put an additional seal on EVMs (besides the one put by EC officials after polling) in their areas following allegations of tampering, clarified on Friday that its May 1 order need not be taken as a precedent elsewhere.

The High Court modified its order after the EC moved an application seeking amendment in its order as similar pleas were being filed across the country.

The EC submitted that since it seals the machines after the conclusion of any election, such a direction was not needed.

Amid the raging debate over reliability of electronic voting machines, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also termed the doubts raised by various parties as "unfounded".

He also appealed to all parties to deliberate on holding the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections simultaneously.

“All the talk about EVMs is unfounded. When they got 67 seats in the Assembly elections in Delhi, they did not raise any questions about its credibility,” Chouhan told PTI in an interview, referring to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
3:32 PM , 12 May

Election Commission Welcomes VVPAT Move

The EC welcomed the VVPAT move by the government, also adding that it has received funds for the same, which it will implement by 2019.

The poll body further said that it will “throw an open a challenge” to prove whether EVMs “can be tampered or not”. It further said it will be held sometime towards the end of the month.

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Published: 12 May 2017, 10:14 AM IST
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