How Can Voters Trust the Reliability of EVMs in the General Election 2024?

As India heads forward into various phases of the General elections 2024, many propaganda groups along with leaders of Opposition parties have set a narrative to show that elections in country are not transparent and genuine. They have made

misleading claims such as hacking, tampering of EVMs to tarnish country’s image with an aim of planting the seeds of mistrust in the voters’ mind regarding fairness of the electoral process.

Timeline of EVM introduction/development in India:-

Year	Development regarding EVMs
1979	A prototype of EVM was developed by Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), Hyderabad.
1980	The Election Commission demonstrated an EVM on August 6, 1980. After consensus on its use, the ECI issued directives under Article 324 for the use of EVMs.
1982	On May 19, machines were used in 50 polling stations during elections in the Parur seat of Kerala. The Supreme Court ruled against the legality of EVMs' use.
1988	A section of the Representation of the People Act was amended in December 1988 and a new section, 61A, was included in the law, empowering the EC to use EVMs. The amendment came into force on March 15, 1989
1990	An Electoral Reforms Committee under Dinesh Goswami is constituted, which recommended a technical examination for EVMs. The Technical Expert Committee recommended EVMs "without any further loss of time marking it technically sound, secure and transparent".
1998	EVMs were used in 16 Assembly elections across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi.
1999-2000	Usage of machines expanded and EVMs were employed in 46 parliamentary constituencies in 1999; 45 Assembly seats in Haryana polls in 2000.
2001	State assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal were conducted using EVMs. All state assembly elections thereafter witnessed the use of this machine.
2004	EVMs were used in all 543 constituencies of Lok Sabha elections.
2013	Amendment to The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 introduced the use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. Used in the bye-election for the Noksen assembly seat in Nagaland.
2019	First Lok Sabha election in which EVM was fully backed by a VVPAT EVM.

Advantages of EVMs over Ballot Paper System:-

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Here are some of the aspects that ensures that EVMs are completely reliable and secure for the voting purpose in India:-

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Supreme Court Judgment regarding VVPAT:-

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on April 26, 2024 rejected the plea of NGO-Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Arun Kumar Aggarwal, seeking 100% cross-verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) data with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) records. The top court also denied giving voters VVPAT slips to put in physically into the ballot boxes.

This verdict of the Supreme Court further assures that EVMs are completely reliable and secure for the voting purpose.