distinguish between ballot paper and electronics voting machines
Answers
Answer:
Electronic Voting Machine (also known as EVM) is voting using electronic means to either aid or take care of the chores of casting and counting votes.
An EVM is designed with two units: the control unit and the balloting unit. These units are joined together by a cable. The control unit of the EVM is kept with the presiding officer or the polling officer. The balloting unit is kept within the voting compartment for electors to cast their votes. This is done to ensure that the polling officer verifies your identity. With the EVM, instead of issuing a ballot paper, the polling officer will press the Ballot Button which enables the voter to cast their vote. A list of candidates names and/or symbols will be available on the machine with a blue button next to it. The voter can press the button next to the candidate’s name they wish to vote for.
No Chance of Hacking
The best thing about paper ballot is that it cannot be hacked. No matter the complexity of the activity it is used for, it cannot be pre-processed to give a certain outcome. There is no algorithm or electronic wiring that can be tampered with by an individual or a group of experts for that matter to give a favourable result.
Paper Ballot Still Used Internationally
In October 2006, the Netherlands banned the use of EVMs. In the year 2009, the Republic of Ireland banned its use which is followed by the Italy in the same year. In March 2009, the Supreme Court of Germany ruled that voting through EVM was unconstitutional. The Court believed that transparency in elections is the constitutional right of the people, but "efficiency" is not constitutionally protected value.
Amidst these countries adopting paper ballots apart from developed nations like USA and England already using it, Indian political parties are putting forward the notion why it cannot be done in India. But, what’s good for their country might not necessarily be good for our country. With different systems of democracy in these countries it is only natural for us to have different election methods as well.
Demerits
Paper Ballot: Wastage of Paper
Reverting back to paper from electronic means is the same as turning back to primitive raw meat even after the discovery of fire. When even the most polluting industries are trying to become greener and reduce their carbon footprints, using paper on such a huge scale despite more eco-friendly options being available is a direct neglect of the environment.
Time Consuming Manual Ballot Counting
The votes cast are counted manually and is a tiresome and error prone task. There were approximately 80 crore registered voters in India during the 2014 General Elections and this figure is expected to increase in the 2019 elections. Counting of 80 crore votes manually is quite difficult and it takes many more man days to count the votes and arrive at the result. This results in miscounting of votes and adds to the already huge time taken to count. In Panchayat Elections in Odisha, conducted using ballot papers, there was a scene of miscounting wherein candidates won according to the second counting. However, there is no way of knowing whether the first count was correct or the second. One can never be sure.
Booth Capturing: Show of Muscle Power
Use of muscle power has been a tool of the political parties to get election outcomes in their favour. During the 2017 elections in Odisha, a video of booth capture went viral in the media. Apart from this, booth capture instances by CPM party in West Bengal are not hidden from anyone. In an interview with The Economic Times on 1 February 2019, the Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora said regarding shifting back to paper ballots, “Political parties have a right to make their feedback known and their apprehensions because they're the biggest stakeholders after the voters. But we're not going to go back to ballot-paper days. We're not going to the days of ballot papers being snatched, muscle powers being used for that (and) inordinate delays in counting.”
Methods of Vote Manipulation in Ballot Paper
Aside from booth capturing, other methods of vote manipulation have come into play in the past elections. This includes the difference in inks during vote casting. A video from the Rajya Sabha Elections in Haryana showed how the vote casting times were different for BJP MLAs and for Congress MLAs and that later the votes cast by Congress MLAs were not taken into consideration due to change in the pen used for casting votes. Sometimes, even some papers where votes are cast can be changed voluntarily or under forced circumstances thus, making the voting scenario quite unsafe for both voters and members of the election commission.
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