Election News Haryana: ECI Ensures EVM Safety, Dismisses Congress Battery Claims

The Election Commission of India (ECI) recently responded to charges leveled by Congress over malfunctions in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during Haryana Assembly Elections 2024. In a letter written to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, dated October 29, 2024, ECI stated that the accusations made by Congress were totally false and baseless. According to the ECI, EVMs are fully secure, and there is no possibility of an influence of battery levels in an election result.

Haryana Election News: ECI Denies Congress Claims

Denies Congress Claims of EVM Issues"In the letter, ECI advised Congress not to make unsubstantiated allegations during sensitive election times because such allegations could provoke unrest and confusion in public minds. The ECI also referred to five earlier instances and appealed to the national party, which has rich experience, to crosscheck before raising questions about election processes without evidence.
The ECI clarified that all the EVMs are tamper-proof and that no amount of battery level impacts the vote counts. 26 Haryana returning officers stated that the Congress representatives were present at each stage of the elections. ECI further clarified that the Supreme Court, at various stages, has held that the EVMs have been tamper-proof and without any malfunctioning, and there is no evidence to hold otherwise.
Further, ECI states that the EVM cannot be compromised by viruses or bugs, and it uses VVPAT system which validates voting accuracy. As this body has a number of years of experience conducting elections that have been free and fair, ECI upholds the legitimacy of the process in which elections in India are held.

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Congress's claims were based on polls that were counted on October 8, which reported that some of the EVMs showed different battery levels, ranging from 99% to 60-80%. Congress claimed that the BJP received more votes where there were more battery levels and that the support for Congress was higher where the battery levels were lesser. ECI retaliated by stating that it had already clarified that EVMs are independent, and the battery level cannot influence the vote results or the integrity of any election.