There are more than 25 nations today using electronic voting machines, popularly referred to as EVMs. However, an increasing number of countries is taking a stand against EVMs and switching over to paper ballots.
The new debate on confidence in electoral processes has put into question the EVM once again. It is also asked by many people around the world which nations do not use the EVM.
Whether it is because of a constitutional prohibition in Europe or policy shift in Asia, there are official election records that indicate that large democracies are leaning toward paper over convenience to ensure public confidence.
Which Countries do not Use Electronic Vote Machines (EVM)?
Electronic Voting Machine is popularly known as EVM which is a stand-alone microprocessor used for recording and tallying the votes rapidly.
Worldwide, there are more than 25 nations using either digital voting system or automatic vote tallying in their election process. The large nations such as India and Brazil make extensive use of EVMs for declaring rapid results of vast populations.
But the following nations do not use the EVMs and prefer paper ballots during their elections.
|
Country
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Year EVM was Banned
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Election Machine Status
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Main Reason for Stopping or Avoiding EVM
|
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Germany
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2009
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Banned (Unconstitutional)
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Supreme court ruled citizens must see vote counts without computer skills
|
|
Netherlands
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2007
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Abandoned
|
High vulnerability to software tampering and digital insecurity
|
|
Ireland
|
2009
|
Scrapped
|
Excessive setup costs and low public confidence in hardware integrity
|
|
Japan
|
2018
|
Phased Out
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Local municipal governments discontinued reliance on electronic devices
|
|
Bangladesh
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2023
|
Returned to Paper
|
Heightened opposition mistrust and lack of broad political consensus
|
Why EVM is not Used in Develop Countries?
The primary factor behind why such advanced countries do not allow EVM systems is simply due to the issue of trust from the general population and not due to the lack of technology. In 2009, the German Supreme Court declared that the use of such machines was unconstitutional. The judges explained that an ordinary man, without learning computer coding, should be able to determine how each and every vote is counted.
Security studies in the Netherlands and Ireland have had identical results. Specialists have shown that microchips that were not connected to networks could still be hacked in terms of internal programming before elections. The absence of a tangible paper record makes digital machines questionable.
Paper Ballots vs EVMs: Which is Better?
Public trust remains the most important part of any real democracy. Paper ballots let local citizens watch volunteers open boxes and tally votes in plain sight.
In case of an EVM, the voter's choice is stored as digital data on a microprocessor that lies in an unseen section of the machine. Due to this, many developed governments opt for the additional time taken in counting the paper ballot over the rapidity of electronic ballot boxes.
How Nations Balance Election Security and Speed
While countries like Germany stick exclusively to physical paper ballots, nations that rely on EVMs have introduced extra safety checks. For instance, the Election Commission of India links a paper printer called VVPAT to every voting unit. This machine prints a physical slip showing the chosen candidate name for seven seconds behind glass, allowing the voter to double-check their choice visually.
Every democracy constantly weighs fast official counts against total voting transparency. As online risks grow globally, the choice between simple paper slips and microchip voting boxes remains an active debate for modern election leaders.