EVM Full Form

What is EVM?

The term EVM stands for Electronic Voting Machine and is used by the public to vote the political leaders on Election day. It brings confidentiality and an easy way for the public to cast their votes. The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) has replaced paper ballots which were difficult to use and there was no confidentiality between the votes of the public.

Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) enhances the fastest process to count and register user votes. Today, In almost every country Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is used as a source for voting the politicians during elections as it reduces the number of doubtful and invalid votes.

Origin of EVM

Voting Machine was invented in New York as a patent device in the year 1889 which works mechanically but not electrically. In India, M. B. Haneefa created the first Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the year 1980. In 1982, It was first introduced in the election of the Paravur Constituency in Kerala. Later in 1989, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was approved by the Election Commission of India along with the partnership of Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).

Design of EVM

The electronic Voting Machine (EVM) Structure is divided into two units:

• Control Unit

• Balloting Unit

The Control unit lies inside the polling officer and the Balloting Unit lies inside the voting compartment. These two units are joined through a five-meter cable. The voter can cast the vote in the balloting unit. Here the Balloting unit contains Blue buttons labeled along with the party names and the voter can vote for the desired party by pressing the respective Blue button.

The function of the Control Unit is to control the Balloting Unit and store the vote counts of the public. The operating program of the control unit can not be changed once the Control unit is manufactured. After the voting gets done, the cable connection between the Ballot unit and the Control unit is removed. The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) contains 6 volts alkaline battery manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BHEL), Bangalore, and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad.

Pros of EVM

• Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) reduces the amount of time to cast a vote by the public.

• The counting of votes is way easier than counting the votes in a traditional paper ballot system.

• Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is eco-friendly as it reduces paper usage as compared to the conventional system.

• Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) can be transferred from one place to another without any difficulty.

• It is very convenient to use.

• Electronic Voting Machine is very useful and advantageous for illiterate people in rural areas.

• The cost of production of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is efficient with an estimated cost of RS 10,500.

• Since the voting machine runs on batteries, there is no need for electricity.

• Interestingly, During the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections, Electronic Voting Machines were used for the first time and it helped to save 1,50,000 trees from being cut to produce paper.

Cons of EVM

With a good number of benefits there are a few limitations of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) as well

• Electronic Voting Machines could be hacked through the internet if it is not encrypted properly which can lead to electoral fraud.

• A single virus can damage the total data of casted votes.

• Even if the shell life of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is around 15 years but still it is not recommended to use voting machines in highly humid areas.

• Sometimes fake voting takes place in this because there is not enough mechanism to detect if the voter is eligible to cast his vote or not.

• Tampering also takes place during the manufacturing of the Voting Machine.

• Political Parties can also bribe the manufacturers of the voting machine in order to get a high amount of votes in their favor.