What are the Benefits of Electronic Voting Machines in Elections?

History of EVMs in India

The first General Elections in India were held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952. It is worth to note that, ballot papers were used in the first general elections.

EVMs were first used in some polling booths of the North Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala in the year 1982. Later on since 2004 the Election Commission of India started using the EVMs in almost all the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

About EVM;

EVM runs on a 6 volt battery, which is manufactured by "Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore" and "Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad".

A maximum of 2000 votes can be recorded in an EVM and the name of 64 candidates can be display on the EVM's balloting unit.

There are 16 candidates can be registered on a single "Ballot Unit" and 4 such Ballot Unit can be added to an EVM.

If there are more than 64 candidates in the constituency, then the traditional ballot paper "ballot or box method" is used for voting. As news is coming from the Telangana where Election Commission will use ballot papers because 185 contestants are in the fray in Nizamabad, Telangana.

 It is not possible for a voter to vote more than once by pressing the button of EVM machine repeatedly because after casting one vote the machine closes.  If someone tries to vote more than one then the machine will not work. Therefore it is safe to use EVM in elections.

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Benefits of EVM in the Elections

1. According to an estimate, about 10,000 tons of ballot is saved in a national election in India due to the use of EVM machine. This is around saving of 2 lac trees. So the use of EVMs in the elections is a good job in terms of environment protection.

2. The Cost of M2 EVMs (2006-10) was Rs.8670/EVM (Balloting Unit and Control Unit). The cost of M3 EVMs has been tentatively fixed at about Rs. 17,000/unit. But this cost seems less if we calculate the cost of printing the ballot papers, their storage, transpiration and cost incurred on the manpower used to carry ballot papers.

3. EVM machines can be moved easily from one place to another as compared to the ballot boxes, that is why people living in the hilly and other inaccessible can cast their vote in the elections. So EVMs provided the right to vote to many peoples of the country.

4. It is expected that about 900 million people will vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in India but due to the use of EVM machines, it is expected that the counting of votes will take place on faster mode. So the shorter time of counting will release the election machinery early and the employees will be able to join their parent departments early.

6. As mentioned above just one vote can be casted by one person so the EVM reduces the possibilities of the fake votes.

7. After conducting the election the EVM saves the votes in its memory so it reduces any possibility of the fake vote when voting is finally closed.

EVM's "control unit" the EVM can keep the conducted vote for a period of upto ten years. So the re-counting of votes is possible in case of any disputation.

9. The EVMs are run by the batteries, so these machines can be used in those areas whereas there is no electricity.

10. An Indian EVM can be used for EVMs are very cost effective because a machine works around 15 years. So the total cost of an election get reduces.

Which countries have been exported to EVM machine by India?

India has exported its EVM to many countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Namibia, Fiji and Kenya.

Namibia used Indian EVMs in its presidential elections held in 2014. Apart from this, many other Asian and African countries have shown interest in purchasing Indian EVMs.

In essence, it can be said that the use of EVM in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections reduces the total cost of elections in addition to saving around 2 lac trees.  

Although the EC should also give benefiting reply to the questions raised on the reliability of EVM by all the political parties, only then the democracy will win in the elections.

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