Botswana has joined the debate surrounding the reliability of Indian electronic voting machines. The electoral commission of the Southern African country is mulling over the use of Indian manufactured electronic voting machines with the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) for its 2019 general elections, according to Africa News.
In an 8 May post on its official Facebook page, the Botswana government said:
Botswana’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has invited professional hackers to hack an Indian EVM produced by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
The registration process for this “hackathon” is expected to begin on 15 May. BEL is expected to demonstrate the reliability of its EVMs in the presence of political parties’ spokespersons and analysts in the coming week.
In a statement, accessed by Africa News, the IEC said:
The demonstration session will offer an opportunity for those with the know how to disrupt, hack and compromise the secure performance of the machines to do so … All those with the technical capability to hack the EVM are invited to come forward and register.
It was Botswana’s incumbent President Ian Khama who welcomed the use of the EVM in Botswana’s next election, after signing the Electoral Amendment Bill last year.
This “hackathon” in Botswana comes amidst much criticism from the Opposition against the EVM due to alleged tampering of the machine in elections around the world.
Despite accusations of the Indian EVM being far from fool proof, the Indian Election Commission has maintained its stance on the matter, guaranteeing the machine’s credibility.
The Botswana Gazette’s Twitter handle threw an open challenge to hack these machines:
The Botswana Gazette also reported that the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has opposed this “hackathon” and will not honour the invitation by the Independent Electoral Commission.
The news from Botswana comes amidst the Indian Election Commission’s decision on 13 May to ensure that all EVMs henceforth have an attached paper trail.
(With inputs from The Botswana Gazette and Africa News)
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