EVM- Electronic Voting Machine

• The Supreme Court declined to entertain a writ petition seeking an independent audit of the source code governing the entire Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) system.
  • A ‘source code’ is a set of written instructions to a machine’s hardware.
  • It provides a virtual window into the inner workings and processes of an electronic device.
• The petitioner had submitted that the independent audit should be undertaken by applying the IEEE 1028 standard.
  • This is a well-established standard for software reviews and audits fixed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional organization (HQ: Piscataway, New Jersey, USA).
• The Supreme Court, however, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was constitutionally entrusted with the superintendence and control of the polls and no material has been provided to show that the ECI was in breach of its constitutional mandate.

FACTS ABOUT EVMS

• EVM is a microcontroller-based portable instrument and does not require electricity and run on an ordinary battery.
• MB Haneefa invented the first Indian voting machine in 1980.
• It was first used in 1981 in the by-election to North Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala in 50 polling stations.
• The EVMs were commissioned in 1989 by Election Commission of India in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited.
• The law was amended by the Parliament in December, 1988 and a new section 61A was inserted in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 empowering the Commission to use voting machines.
  • The amended provision came into force with effect from 15th March, 1989.