Checking & Verification process scheduled for January 9-13, 2025

The EC’s verification process will take place from January 9 to 13, 2025, at a warehouse near Sirsa’s Traffic Park. Nine EVMs will be scrutinized during this period. The verification will be open to all candidates contesting from the Rania seat, including Kamboj and Arjun Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), ensuring complete transparency in the process.

Focus on EVM accuracy, not rote Recounting

Shantanu Sharma, the District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, clarified that the checking and verification (C&V) would adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued following the Supreme Court’s directives. Sharma emphasized that the exercise would focus solely on verifying the accuracy of the EVMs, and would not involve a recount or rechecking of votes. “Only the EVMs will be examined to ensure the accuracy of the vote recording,” he explained, reported The Tribune.

Kamboj raises concerns over the C&V process

Despite the official clarification, Sarvmittar Kamboj has expressed dissatisfaction with the process, calling it a “mock poll.” He remains frustrated over the results at nine booths where he believes he had a strong chance of winning. “I paid for a recount, but now they are dismissing the issue with this C&V,” Kamboj stated. He confirmed that he would participate in the verification process, but indicated that he may pursue further actions depending on the outcome.

However, in the October 2024 elections, INLD’s Arjun Chautala emerged victorious in the Rania constituency, defeating Kamboj by 4,191 votes. Ranjit Chautala and BJP’s Shishpal Kamboj secured the third and fourth spots, respectively.

Supreme Court’s direction on EVMs Checking & Verification

It is important to note that the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on the issue of EVM checking earlier in April 2024. The bench sought technical clarifications from the Election Commission regarding aspects such as the micro-controller’s installation, its programmability, and the sealing of control units and VVPATs. Additionally, the Court addressed the process for handling the Symbol Loading Units (SLUs) and clarified the timeline for election petitions.

The Supreme Court issued directions to the Election Commission, which included the sealing and securing of the SLUs post-May 1, 2024, to ensure transparency. Further, the Court allowed for the verification of the burnt memory semi-controller of 5% of EVMs per assembly segment in case of a written request by the runner-up candidates. This verification, to be conducted by engineers from EVM manufacturers, will take place post-results and within seven days of the declaration. The cost of this process is to be borne by the candidate making the request, but if any tampering or discrepancies are found, the expenses will be refunded.

The letter of DEO Sirsa dated 07.01.2025 can be read here

Related:

VVPAT-EVM Verification: SC issues directions for fool-proofing EVM, sealing of EVMs & SLUs enabling runner-up candidate verification

ECI issues notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after receiving complaint from BJP alleging violation of electoral laws by Rahul Gandhi for delivering “scurrilous” speeches against Prime Minister Modi

ECI issues notice to BJP party, and not the star campaigner himself, over alleged hate speech delivered by PM Modi, seeks response by 11 am, April 29

The post Election Commission to check & verify EVMs used in Rania Assembly Constituency of Haryana appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The VFD report reveals a disturbing trend of manipulated voter turnout data, particularly in Haryana, where the official voter turnout spiked by 6.71% between October 5 and 7, 2024—a shift equating to an additional 1.3 million votes. This surge is both unusual and unexplained, raising suspicions of data manipulation to favour certain political parties. Key districts, including Panchkula and Charkhi Dadri, experienced extraordinary turnout increases of over 10%, all of which disproportionately benefited the BJP in closely contested constituencies. These irregularities call into question the veracity of the official turnout figures and their role in influencing the election results. (See table 5 of the report)

Moreover, the ECI has failed to release raw vote counts, again, instead opting to publish district-wise turnout percentages. This deliberate opacity prevents any meaningful scrutiny of the electoral process. Alarmingly, last-minute revisions to the voter turnout figures just hours before counting on October 8 suggest an attempt to hide discrepancies and manipulate the results. Such actions undermine the transparency and legitimacy of the entire process.

Further troubling findings from the report suggest a mismatch in the EVM vote tallies at various booths, notably in regions where the BJP secured narrow victories. The hike in EVM votes in areas such as Panchkula (10.52%) and Charkhi-Dadri (11.48%) after the polls raised serious red flags. In addition, the BJP’s strong performance in just 10 districts, where it won 37 out of 44 seats, contrasted starkly with its poor showing in the remaining 12 districts, where it secured only 11 out of 46 seats. These discrepancies are not easily explained by local issues or voter preferences, raising concerns about the manipulation of voting data to favour the ruling party. (See table 23 and 24 of the report)

The report also traces a pattern of irregularities extending back to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where similar unexplained voter turnout increases were observed. The consistency of such data manipulation raises doubts about the Election Commission’s ability to conduct fair and free elections, casting a shadow over its credibility.

In Haryana, the manipulated voter turnout figures are believed to have directly impacted the results, especially in 17 constituencies where the margin of victory was under 5,000 votes. In these tight races, the inflated voter turnout figures helped secure BJP victories, while smaller parties like the INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) saw minimal benefits. In total, the report suggests that the turnout manipulation likely contributed to the BJP’s win in at least 24 additional seats across Haryana.

Similar irregularities have been alleged in the Jammu & Kashmir elections, where last-minute jumps in voter turnout percentages further fuel concerns about the overall fairness of the election process. The widespread nature of these discrepancies calls into question the legitimacy of the entire electoral process in both states. (See table 30 of the report)

The findings of this report, coupled with the overall lack of transparency and consistency in electoral data, raise serious questions about the integrity of the electoral process in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. VFD calls for an immediate and independent investigation into these allegations. The lack of transparency, data manipulation, and inconsistencies in the reported turnout figures demand urgent action to restore public trust in the electoral system. The ECI must release all raw data, explain the anomalies, and take responsibility for these discrepancies to ensure such manipulation does not occur in future elections.

Why was this exercise important?

This exercise was particularly timely as the upcoming state elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra will soon test the transparency and integrity of India’s electoral system. As citizens prepare to vote, it is essential that every vote is accurately counted and reported. By focusing on raw vote counts rather than percentages, the call for transparency ensures that the true outcome of the election is clear and verifiable. Vote counts, which are exact and definitive, eliminate the risks associated with rounding errors or vote leaks that percentages can sometimes obscure. The publication of real, raw vote counts empowers voters and election observers to trust that the process reflects the will of the people, without distortion.

Moreover, the use of Forms 17-A and 17-C, which provide real-time and final tally records of votes, serves as a safeguard against discrepancies or manipulation, offering candidates and citizens alike the tools to verify the accuracy of election results. This call to action emphasises the need for consistency and transparency, ensuring that all votes are recorded and counted faithfully.

In light of the forthcoming elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, this initiative is even more critical. These elections offer a chance to reinforce the integrity of the democratic process, ensuring that voters’ voices are heard and respected without interference. Transparency across all stages of voting—from booth-wise queue data to VVPAT verification—is vital for fostering public trust in the electoral system. The call for video evidence and polling officer accountability further strengthens this transparency, ensuring that every step of the process is open to scrutiny.

As highlighted in the VFD report, the integrity of elections hinges on transparent practices that prevent tampering, miscounts, and data manipulation. With the stakes high in these state elections, ensuring a clear, accurate, and transparent voting process is essential not only for the credibility of the elections but also for the health of India’s democracy.

VFD’s finding in Lok Sabha Elections 2024

Notably, VFD had also released its detailed report on the conduct of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections during an event on July 22, 2024 at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai. The report, titled “Report: Conduct of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 – Analysis of ‘Vote Manipulation’ and ‘Misconduct during Voting and Counting’,” highlighted alleged election malpractices, including discrepancies in EVM vote counts, vote manipulation, and misconduct by the Election Commission of India and Returning Officers. It revealed a troubling 5 crore “dumped” votes, with the vote hike disproportionately benefiting the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), raising doubts about the integrity of the election process.

Vote for Democracy (VFD)

According to its website, Vote for Democracy (VFD) is a Maharashtra-level citizens’ platform comprising individuals and organizations, established in 2023. The organization is working to ensure voter registration, raise voter awareness, and promote hate-free elections where accountability and transparency are paramount.

The Executive Summary of Report can be accessed here.

The Full Report can be accessed here.

Related:

Vote for Democracy (VFD) releases report on the conduct of General Election 2024

925 Complaints of Booth capturing in Elections 2024

TODAY, is WORSE than the ‘EMERGENCY!’

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Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) has written to the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India (ECI) raising concerns over the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and on the impact of the electoral bonds. Yechury has said these concerns are serious and have arisen, “from the experience of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The first issue he raised with the EC is on the “functioning of the EVMs along with the VVPAT”

Yechury referred to a detailed report by a Civil Society organisation, Citizens Commission on Elections (CCE), on the Indian EVM and VVPAT system. He stated that the Indian Constitution mandates and empowers the Election Commission of India with wide powers under Article 324. However he added that the ECI’s response to the two issues raised since 2019, has been “far less than adequate”. He recalled that letters on the issue raised by the CPI (M) too did not get adequate response.

“We urgently feel that it has become imperative to address a major vulnerability in the conduct of the elections. This arises from the introduction of the VVPAT in 2013 as a response to address the doubts in the minds of the voters as to whether their intended choice is indeed recorded in the counting process” he wrote.

According to Yechury the “paper trail coming out of the VVPAT, while addressing the voters’ doubt, raises another crucial question” as it is not known if it “is being recorded in the Control Unit which counts the votes of the EVM.” He wrote that the “the VVPAT has added a crucial and unique vulnerability to the system.” 

He has urged the ECI to “ensure that the voters’ choice exercised in the Ballot Unit goes into the Control Unit of the EVM where it is recorded and then routed to the VVPAT” and that a “100% matching of VVPAT output with EVM recorded data” be done for each booth. 

On the impact of the electoral bonds and role of money power on elections, Yechury stated that “introduction of electoral bonds has made corporate funding absolutely opaque.” He said that even as news reports now state “that a fresh round of electoral bonds” are being issued from April, 2021, available data “already shows that 52% of the total funding from all sources has gone to BJP, outstripping the amounts received by all other political parties put together.” Yechury has asked for a “detailed plan of action and a status report on implementation to eliminate the adverse impact of money power.”

Sitaram Yechury’s letter to Chief Election Commissioner, may be read here:

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Battleground Bengal: Is BJP’s Poriborton Yatra failing to take off?
Amplify farmers’ struggle at the district-level: Janta Parliament to Opposition leaders

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The Election Commission of India should tally the numbers of most Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines with those of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to enhance people’s confidence in the polls. A discussion with Rahul Roy, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute and Prabir Purkayastha of the Free Software Movement in India and editor, NewsClick.

Courtesy: News Click

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Agitated members of opposition political parties protested outside a polling booth in Meerut for several hours on Wednesday after a voter realized that though he had pressed the button for BSP candidate, the EVM registered a vote for the candidate of the ruling BJP party.

Although officials replaced the faulty machine claiming it was a case of machine malfunction, the opposition parties alleged tampering of the EVMs. “We replaced the machine which was malfunctioning immediately”, additional district magistrate of Meerut city told the Times of India.

A video of a voter, Tasleem Ahmed unsuccessfully trying to cast his vote for the BSP went viral on the social media. “I voted for BSP candidate. I am still holding the pressed button. The machine has recorded my vote as having gone to BJP. I’ve been waiting here for an hour but no solution has been found so far,” Ahmed can be heard saying in the video. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) leader, Mayawati, who has been campaigning against tampering of EVM machines since the Assembly polls in UP in March, has threatened to petition the court over the fresh incident of alleged tampering.

Meanwhile, the Urdu dailies Rashtriya Sahara and Inquilab have reported widespread protests in Kanpur city where again voters from many booths alleged that irrespective of the button they pressed, the vote went to the BJP.  The police resorted to lathi charge in some places to disperse the agitated crowds. Voters from polling booth number 58 in the Chekeri area of Kanpur who went to cast their votes alleged that irrespective of the button they pressed the machine registered a vote for the candidate with the BJP’s lotus symbol.

The voters also alleged that despite their complaint the voting was continuing. The Rashtriya Sahara reports that after a complaint was lodged with the polling officer the EVM machine was replaced.

Inquilab reported protests outside several booths in Kanpur city, following which polling officers had to replace the voting machines (EVMs). Booth number 978 in the Govind Nagar assembly segment was one place where irrespective of the buttons pressed the machines were registering all the votes in favour of “a particular party”. 

It was the same story at booth number 104 too. According to the Inquilab, EVMs had to be replaced at a total of 102 booths in Kanpur because of complaints.
 
The first phase of voting for civic polls was held in part of UP on Wednesday.  
 

The post Press any button, vote goes to BJP: Furore in UP over “faulty” EVM machines in Meerut, Kanpur civic polls appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Meanwhile the Election Commission did not actually conduct the hackathon it promised last Saturday, June 3, as there were
no takers from the political parties. While the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) wrote in to
the EC objecting to the limited framework that the hackathon was being conducted in, the two parties CPI(M) and NCP
that registered, did not take part in the actual hacking of the machine citing one reason or the other. The EC on its part has now said
that the issue of EVMs and their one hundred per cent security, is now closed.

Today, June 6, an additional collector from Goa, Sabaji Shetye, was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Goa as he was caught
red handed taking a bribe of Rs. 25,000/- as advance towards sanctioning an explosive storage licence. There would be nothing unsual in this news
per se except that this man had been the Returning officer for the 2015 by-elections for the prestigious Panjim assembly constituency.

That election was held because the seat was vacated by the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar when he resigned to go to Delhi to join the
Central Cabinet to become the Defense Minister. The election was won with overwhelming majority by the BJP.

Those were the days when no one ever questioned the functioning of the EVM. Though there were doubts, people
were probably just learning about how the machines operated and were not confident of making statements about the
EVMs and their functioning with any certainty.

The EC, on its par,  has made statements saying EVMs are safe and that internal parts  in EVM  cannot be changed or manipulated as there
are administrative safeguards. However, they have not specified these administrative safeguards actually are.

As of now, it is not clear what due diligence tests the EC conducts so that a critical position such as that of a Returning officer is filled by
a person of integrity, a must to ensure free and fair elections.But now that an ex-RO has been caught red handed taking bribe, serious questions
arise.

Isn't it necessary to check and investigate all previous assignments of this ex-RO to ensure that he did not indulge in any hanky panky (read
corrupt practices) before?

And if a person of suspicious credentials is made RO, would EC's administrative safeguards not get undermined? Given the high level of corruption in
India and the huge stakes in the Indian elections, the EVM should be tamper proof and even if the most corrupt of guys tries any stunt, there ought to be
enough checks and balances there so that he cannot get away with tampering.

Today's arrest of an ex-RO raises serious questions that the EC would be compelled to answer.

Related Articles:

1. Election Commission transfers returning officer after complaint from Nationalist Student Congress
2. AAP shows live demonstration of EVM fraud in Delhi assembly
 

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Victory has a hundred fathers, defeat is an orphan, goes the saying. An unprecedented new political situation has risen in UP this time with BJP and its allies romping home with 325/403 seats in the state Assembly.
 
How did BJP manage such a landslide? 
 
Part of the answer lies in its comfortable majority of 272 in Parliament and the anti-incumbency vote against the BSP and SP governments of the last decade. 
But how demonetisation helped the BJP is the real miracle.
 
It is now an open-secret that the total amount of currency in circulation which was to be deposited in banks from November 8-Decemeber 30 last year has been far exceeded. The RBI is maintaining a deafening silence on the issue despite numerous RTI queries. It is hiding behind the plea of national-security to stonewall the queries.
 
The fact is that demonetisation has benefitted everyone. The fat cats who had hoarded currency got it deposited in ever-so-eager banks and with jewellers, paying a commission as high as 30%. Thus, it won't be out of place to conclude in retrospect that perhaps the entire exercise was to convert black money as well as fake currency into white-money. 
 
Demonetisation also eased the space constraints for major hoarders as now only 50 notes of Rs 2,000 can make a lakh. Fake currency notes have once again started surfacing. So is it just a vicious cycle?
 
Many died in bitter cold while standing for hours during the 50 days campaign and yet people voted heavily in favour of BJP. In UP millions of jobless, unemployed, under-employed labourers and daily wagers etc stood in lines to exchange one lakh rupees for their masters on daily basis, and were paid Rs 5,000 towards “service charges”.
 
Millions of them deposited their masters’ money in their personal accounts, opened new accounts at the behest of their masters. Jan Dhan Yojna accounts saw a huge spike in deposits and their masters’ money is now sitting in their personal accounts.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he would find some way (in order to make this money their own) and this fired the popular imagination. A poor man who never had Rs 1,000 in his account now had lakhs in it and if he could manage to keep it as his own he would be indebted to Modi forever.
 
Now the deadline of March 31 is over and obviously the masters will seek return of their money. That’s when it would be most helpful to have a BJP government at the helm to look to for help when complaining to the police about harassment. It is anybody’s guess that an avalanche of such defaulters is in the offing.
 
Thus, Modi has brought happiness to the poor who were also elated over the fact that the rich and middle-class had been brought down to their level, made to stand in the same queues as them.
 
This together with the BJP’s anti-Muslim politics, the Central government’s Urjaa Yojna, representation to non-Jatav and non-Yadav communities, anti-incumbency against SP coupled with its ignominious in-house fighting, tilt of the upper castes towards BJP is what the Assembly results are all about.
 
BSP was vociferous in its opposition to demonetisation while SP could only put up a timid response.
 
Another factor which has become even more relevant after the civic elections in Delhi is that of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The Modi government has finally approved equipping EVMs with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) following sustained opposition from all parties. 
 
BSP supremo Mayawati has gone to Supreme Court which has given four-week’s time to Chief Election Commission (CEC) to reply. It is ironic that this initiative should have come from Mayawati and not the outgoing CM Akhilesh Yadav. Instead, the latter attended the March 18 oath ceremony of Yogi Adityanath while his father Mulayam Singh Yadav whispered in Modi’s ears triggering speculation.
 
Did we find Mayawati present in Akhilesh Yadav swearing-in ceremony in 2012? Certainly not.
 
The results from the UP elections have baffled everyone. Even the BJP had not imagined such a landslide victory. People’s confidence in the voting system through EVM has reached a new low, particularly after demonetisation when people have started to believe that anything is possible with BJP at the helm. 
 
In the aftermath of 2014 results, I had in my personal capacity spoken to numerous ministers in UP, suggesting that they should insist that 2017 Assembly polls be with ballot paper. Now it is time to get rid of EVMs or else whatever little semblance of representative power the masses have, that too once every five-years, is slated to be doomed.
 
Polls are no less than an examination paper where everyone has the right to see the answer script.
 
EVMs have no takers but our CEC seems committed to the sarkari line. The Supreme Court of Germany in a landmark judgement in March 2009 held that “electronic voting is unconstitutional because the average citizen could not be expected to understand the exact steps involved in the recording and tallying of votes by EVMs”.
 
EVMs are banned in Germany. They have been abandoned in Holland and Ireland. Technologically advanced Japan and Singapore stick to ballot paper polls. But our CEC continues to insist that EVMs are tamper-proof and the best way out for voting.
 
There have been hundreds of complaints after the advent of EVMs in 2004, but EC seems unconcerned towards over the possibility of ‘insider fraud’ by any of the thousands of authorised personnel having access to EVMs.
 
These include Indian developers and manufactures of the machines, the vendors supplying the components including the foreign companies who have been assigned the security sensitive job of fusing software on to the ‘masked’ microchips sourced from them, the local officials who have the custody of the machines before and after the elections etc. 
 
The issue came to light again recently when the chief election officer in Madhya Pradesh, Saleena Singh (April 2,) found VVPAT machines dispensing only BJP votes! (The allegation reportedly turned out to be untrue. Editors).
 
All such hoaxes have been well documented along with field reports in the book, Democracy at Risk, by GVL Narsimha Rao now freely available on internet. The book clearly indicates that there is room for strong suspicion of insider fraud.
 
This 230 -page book is a minefield of information and should be available in every political party office in India. The book had been the object of discussion in our Parliament too and BJP has castigated it to be just a personal opinion of LK Advani who has written its foreword.
 
BJP has ready-made answers for everything. It won from the Muslim majority seat of Deoband and pat came its tailor-made reply that Muslim women voted for BJP. Should BJP also know that Muslim women are in other constituencies too? 
 
Out of 86 reserved seats in UP, BJP and its allies won 77. The votes of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Muslims are well above 50% on these seats, hence, Jatavs – the traditional vote bank of BSP – presumably voted for BJP. This is where the alarm bells rang for Mayawati.
 
It is high time that elections are made fool-proof where confidence and transparency for every citizen is guaranteed. Even VVPAT is not enough as my submission is that EVMs should have two-prints, one deposited with CEC and the other provided to the voter, with an assigned number duly stamped and signed by the presiding officer, just like how it happens in a bank where a receipt is given on submitting an amount.
 
My vote is my trust and is like my bank account.  All political parties should unanimously put up a joint representation to CEC to stop elections in phases too as given the onslaught of social-media online media blitzkrieg and a fight for TRP by news channels the hapless masses are left susceptible to any kind of polarisation.
 
These days elections have become a month long business. We citizens can wait for a day or a two for results to be declared after manual accounting of every vote.
 
Peoples trust is at risk. The whole project of voting is becoming a humbug. People’s confidence in the system needs to be restored and this is what needs to be the prime objective of CEC, particularly when 'election hacking' has gone commercial as an article by an Israeli writer Yael Even Or in Tablet Magazine: Did An Israeli Company Hack Zimbabwe Elections? That says it all.
 
The writer is UP State Information Commissioner
 
 

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When media reports appeared on April 1 that electronic voting machines had spewed out slips showing just the symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the lotus, during a demonstration by election officials in Madhya Pradesh, rival political parties were quick to latch on to them.

In March, in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati had alleged that the voting machines used in Assembly polls held in the state in February-March had been rigged by the BJP. Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party had made similar allegations about machines used in the Punjab polls conducted simultaneously.

So when reports said the electronic voting machines used in Uttar Pradesh had travelled to Madhya Pradesh for bypolls in Ater constituency in Bhind district and Bandhavgarh constituency in Umaria district that are scheduled for Sunday, and a paper audit trail had dispensed only slips with the BJP symbol, they caused much alarm. The incident also led to the suspension of 19 officials, including a district collector and a superintendent of police.

A committee set up by the Election Commission has found that there was no truth in the allegations.

Scroll.in travelled to Bhind to investigate the allegations and speak to journalists who were the first to report the story and officials who were present at the demonstration on March 31. An examination of the reports that appeared in newspapers and on TV channels suggests that misreporting by one newspaper seems to have made it all the way to the national media.

What happened on March 31

On the afternoon of March 31, the Madhya Pradesh chief electoral officer, Saleena Singh, held a media briefing at a hall in the zila parishad building in Bhind town to discuss election preparedness in Ater constituency. Among those present were top officials of the state election commission, former District Collector Ilayaraja T, Superintendent of Police Anil Singh Kushwah, a group of mediapersons and a senior zila parishad officer, among a few others. During the briefing, Singh talked about the voter-verifiable paper audit trail machine and how it works in conjunction with the electronic voting machine. She went on to give an impromptu demonstration of how the audit trail works.

A VVPAT machine records each vote on paper and allows the voter to verify the paper record while casting the vote electronically. A slip with the chosen party symbol appears on a display screen for seven seconds and then automatically drops inside the machine.

As Singh pressed a button, the lotus symbol with the name of Satyadev Pachauri – the winning BJP candidate from Govind Nagar constituency in Kanpur during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, whose results were declared on March 11 – appeared on the display screen of the VVPAT machine. On seeing the lotus symbol, some reporters suggested in jest that the machine was biased towards the BJP. Singh responded to the comments. She laughed and warned them against reporting on such lines, saying she would take them to the police station if they did.

Some reporters took offence at the remark, even as Singh and her team of election officials went on to press at least two other buttons.

Till here, all the versions in the press reports match. The divergence is over what happened next.

A widely circulated video of the incident shows Singh’s exchange of remarks with the journalists while she tested the electronic voting machine but it does not show the results on the VVPAT machine.

What local papers reported

Three major Hindi newspapers have offices in Bhind – Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar and Nayi Duniya – and all three had reporters present at the briefing. There is a stringer who contributes to two major news agencies but he was not at the event. A stringer for Hindi news channel Aaj Tak was also present, among a few others.

Patrika headline on April 1: “Demo mein pehli parchi nikli Bhajpa ki, Congress ne kaha ballot paper se ho chunao” (BJP slip first to come out during demo, Congress asks for polls to be conducted with ballot paper)

The front-page report said the first slip that emerged from the VVPAT machine during the demonstration displayed the BJP symbol, and after some mediapersons raised questions, Singh threatened them. It went on to quote Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Govind Singh suggesting that the electronic voting machines were tampered with and asking for voting through ballot paper. The report did not say what results had emerged on the VVPAT machine after the buttons on the electronic voting machine were pressed twice more.

The report in Patrika on April 1 says the first slip to come out was that of the BJP with its lotus symbol.

However, the paper carried a second article next to the main report – headlined “Loktantra ki hatya ka prayas: Govind Singh” (Attempt to murder democracy: Govind Singh) – which had Congress leader Govind Singh’s take on the controversy. And in the continuation of that second story on an inside page, the reporter quoted the Congress leader as saying that BJP slips had come out twice when button number four of the electronic voting machine was pressed.

The continuation of the second report on Patrika.

When contacted, the chief of Patrika’s reporting team in Bhind, Ramanand Soni, said, “Lotus slip [symbol of the BJP] did not appear twice and we have reported the facts correctly.” The reporter, Subhash Tripathi, too stood by his story.

Nai Duniya headline on April 1: “Mukkhya Nirvachan Padashikari hass kar boli – press mein dia toh thane mein baithaenge” (Chief electoral officer jokingly said if you put it in the press, I will take you to the police station).

According to the report, the slips from the VVPAT machine emerged in this sequence: the first one showed the BJP’s lotus symbol, the second showed the Rashtriya Lok Dal’s hand pump, and the third showed the Congress’ hand. The report said the election officer asked the reporters not to publish anything about the VVPAT slips. Speaking to Scroll.in, the reporter, Abbas Ahmed, vouched for the accuracy of his report.

A senior officer of the district collectorate, who did not wish to be identified, and the chief executive officer of the zila parishad in Bhind, both present for the demonstration, also narrated the same sequence of slips.

The Nai Duniya report on April 1, whose headline focused on the exchange of words between the chief electoral officer and reporters.

Dainik Bhaskar headline on April 1: “EVM ka do baar button dabaya toh print huwa kamal ka chinh” (Pressed twice, EVM buttons produced slip with the lotus symbol)
The report said the BJP slip appeared twice even though the election officers pressed two different buttons.

When asked about the difference between his account and the reports published in other newspapers, the Dainik Bhaskar reporter, Lajpat Agarwal, initially said he did not see anything clearly after the first two buttons pressed by the Chief Electoral Officer but he saw the election officials pressing four buttons in total.

“The symbol of the flower [Lotus] had appeared but whether she had pressed the same button corresponding to the Lotus, there is no clarity on that. But a lotus slip had emerged,” he said. He still did not clarify at what point he saw two lotus slips emerging on the VVPAT machine.

He then went on to say how Saleena Singh’s remarks had offended reporters. When pointed to the Nai Duniya report that said the slips had appeared in a particular sequence, he said that account was correct. Asked why then he had reported that there were two slips with the BJP symbol, he turned defensive and claimed he had seen two slips displaying the lotus symbol lying near the VVPAT machine.

The last claim is questionable. As far as the functioning of the VVPAT machine is concerned, the paper slips drop only in a container inside the machine.

Ravindra Jharkhariya, news editor of Dainik Bhaskar’s Gwalior office, to which the team in Bhind reports, claimed his was the only paper to have published the facts correctly. He refused to comment on the sequence of slips reported in other publications.

“If there was no problem in the VVPAT machine and BJP slip had not appeared twice, why did Ms Singh threaten the media?” he asked, adding, “The Election Commission is now trying to suppress the issue through its report [ruling out tampering].”

The Dainik Bhaskar reported that two slips of the BJP symbol were produced during the demonstration in Bhind.

Report of Election Commission

On Friday, the Election Commission published its report on the incident in which it clearly stated that four buttons were pressed on the electronic voting machine and four separate slips were produced in the VVPAT machine. It clarified the sequence as – hand pump (Rashtriya Lok Dal), lotus (BJP), hand pump (Rashtriya Lok Dal) and hand (Congress). No news reporter contacted by us, however, happened to have noticed the first hand pump symbol.

The national media

It took a day for the story to make it to national newspapers. On April 2, the Indian Express published a report with the headline “Madhya Pradesh EVM trial reignites ‘tampering’ row, EC calls for report”.

Since it did not have a reporter in Bhind, the newspaper relied on the reports that had appeared in the local papers. It began by saying: “Following reports that a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail [VVPAT] machine used during a trial in Madhya Pradesh only dispensed slips with the BJP’s poll symbol…” But then, it also went on to reflect the confusion over what had happened in Bhind.

“There were varying reports of what transpired during the trial,” it said. “Some reports said the VVPAT machine dispensed slips with the BJP’s lotus symbol twice, although different buttons were pressed on the EVM. Another version, however, said different symbols were printed.”

The Times of India, however, dispensed with caution and termed the electronic voting machines “faulty”. In a report published on April 3, it said, “The EVM that triggered nationwide controversy after reeling out BJP voter slips during a dummy test in Bhind was routed here from Kanpur after being used in the UP assembly poll, an Election Commission team said on Sunday after testing it.”

While reporting that the VVPAT machines dispensed slips showing only the BJP symbol, NDTV attributed it to local media reports.

A report on Aaj Tak said: “EVM fails trial test in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind. As soon as a button on an EVM was pressed, the BJP candidate’s slip appeared on the VVPAT. Election Commission has sought a report on the matter.” The Aaj Tak stringer, Sarvesh Purohit, told Scroll.in that the BJP symbol did not appear twice, but he refused to say what he had communicated to his office.

A story on ABP News, however, claimed the VVPAT machine had produced two BJP slips. The reporter in the piece-to-camera is Brijesh Rajput, a Bhopal-based correspondent. Reporters present at the trial said Rajput was not at the venue on March 31.

When contacted, Rajput said button number four on the electronic voting machine was pressed twice – once by an Election Commission officer and once by chief electoral officer Saleena Singh. “So technically paper slips corresponding to BJP appeared twice on the VVPAT. But what actually created a controversy was the exchange of words between Saleena Singh and some journalists,” he said. Rajput admitted that he was not present at the demonstration, but said he had received information from reliable reporters who had attended it.

There is still a catch there. In his telephonic report during the news show, Rajput tactically avoids saying “two different buttons”.

The Dainik Bhaskar report, however, said that though different buttons were pressed, the BJP slip had appeared on the VVPAT machine.

What Election Commission said

The Election Commission sent a committee of officials to Bhind to investigate the allegations. On Friday, it held a press conference in Delhi where it announced, “The probe concluded that the EVMs used in the demo in Bhind was not brought from Uttar Pradesh. However, the VVPAT used in the demonstration was brought from UP.”

Chief electoral officer Saleena Singh was not available on phone on Saturday. But Sanjay Singh Baghel, the state-level nodal officer (Madhya Pradesh) in her office, clarified on the controversy. “The CEO’s remark [about taking reporters to the police station] that was highlighted in the media was technically correct but said in an informal manner,” Bagel told Scroll.in on Saturday.

He added, “First, the VVPAT machine did not show wrong slips. The problem was that it was not cleared. Second, misreporting on VVPAT results can attract punishment under Rule 45MA of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and so the CEO warned some media persons against doing so. The police station remark was in relation to potential violation of the rule, which is punishable by imprisonment and/or penalty and/or both. But it was said in a highly informal manner.”

According to Baghel, the matter was blown out of proportion after some political parties (he did not name any) took to social media and the entire narrative changed. “However, a few media organisations had reported the matter right on the first day itself,” he pointed out.

So what happened, actually?

Officials said the problem was that the demonstration on March 31 was unplanned. The protocol for a demonstration is that the machines used are reconfigured with random symbols – not the symbols of the BJP, Congress or any other party in the election fray. The Election Commission clarified that the confusion took place because old data stored in the machine in Uttar Pradesh had not been removed. The Hindu reported, “The machine, that was kept in reserve for the Uttar Pradesh polls, had undergone a standard protocol of randomisation and loading of symbols, but the old symbols were not removed ahead of the same procedure at Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.”

Republished with permission from Scroll.

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