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HowcanElectronicVotingMachines(EVM)bemanipulated?
Part1

Dr.KhomdonSinghLisam*

ElectronicVotingMachines(EVM)::PixTSE

VotingisafundamentalrightTheheartofdemocracyisvoting.TheheartofvotingisTRUSTthateachvoteisrecordedandcounted
withaccuracyandimpartiality.Thepurposeofanelectionisnottonamethewinner,butitistoconvincethelosersthattheylost.(Dr.
DanWallach,Computersecurityexpert,RiceUniversity).

VotingisastatutoryrightundertheRepresentationofPeopleAct1950andfundamentalrightsinIndiaunderArticle19(1)(a)toknow
theantecedentofthecandidatescontestingfortheelection.Avoterhastherighttoknowwhetherhis/hervotehasbeenrecordedand
counted.CanavoterinIndiatodayknowwhetherhis/hervotehasbeenrecordedorcounted.withaccuracyandimpartialityIfso,
whereistheproofandwhereistheaccountability?DoesEVMsanswerthesequestions?

WhatisEVM?

India'sElectronicVotingMachines(EVMs)havetwomaincomponents(1)CONTROLUNIT,usedbypollworkers,whichstoresand
accumulatesvotes,and(2)aBALLOTUNIT,locatedintheelectionbooth,whichisusedbyvoters.Theseunitsareconnectedbya5m
cable,whichhasoneendpermanentlyfixedtotheballotunit.Thesystemispoweredbyabatterypackinsidethecontrolunit.The
ballotunithas16candidatebuttons.Ifanyareunused,theyarecoveredwithaplasticmaskingtabinsidetheunit.

Whentherearemorethan16candidates,anadditionalballotunitcanbeconnectedtoaportontheundersideofthefirstballotunit.Up
tofourballotunitscanbechainedtogetherinthisway,foramaximumof64candidates.Afourpositionslideswitchintheballotunit
selectsitspositioninthechain.TheBharatElectronicsLimited(BEL)andElectronicsCorporationofIndia(ECIL)arethemanufacturers
ofEVMsinIndiaandtheforeigncompaniesinUSandJapansupplyingmicrocontrollers,

WhenEVMswerefirstused?

Theelectronicvotingmachines(EVMs)usedinIndianelectionsareinternationallyknownasDirectRecordingElectronic(DRE)voting
machines which record votes directly in electronic memory . Electronic voting machines were first introduced in India in 1982 in
assemblyelectionsonalimitedbasis.OnesuchconstituencywheretheywereusedwastheParurAssemblyconstituencyinthestate
ofKerala.In50ofthe84pollingstations,electronicvotingmachineswereused.

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EVMshavebeeninuniversaluseinIndiasincethegeneralelectionsof2004,whenpaperballotswerephasedoutcompletely.They
havebeendeployedinallassemblypollsandthegeneralelectionsin2009.AdvantagesofEVMElectronicVotingMachines(EVMs)
haverevolutionisedtheIndianelectionprocess.Theadvantagesofelectronicvotingmachinesissimplicityoftheprocedure,theease
oftabulationofballotsintoresultsandthefasterandmoreaccurateresults.

It'seasytoseetheutilityofthemachineiteliminatesinvalidvotes,endsboothcapturing,andmakescountingeasierandfaster."Itis
tamperproof,errorfreeandeasytooperate,"saystheEC\'smanualforreturningofficersstates.IsitlegaltouseEVMinIndia?In
1984,theSupremeCourtofIndiaheldthattheuseofelectronicvotingmachinesinelectionswas"illegal"astheRepresentationof
People(RP)Act,1951didnotpermituseofvotingmachinesinelections.

Later,theR.P.Actwasamendedin1989incorporatingSection61A.However,theamendmentsaysvotingmachines"maybeadopted
in such constituency or constituencies as the Election Commission may, having regard to the circumstances of each case, specify."
Violating the provisions of the R.P Act, the Election Commission has conducted 2004 and 2009 nationwide general elections only
using electronic voting machines. Many legal experts say that going by the 1984 judgment of the Supreme Court, parliamentary
elections of 2004 and 2009 may be held illegal. (GVL Narasimha Rao http://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanning
indianevms.pdf).(http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?cat=3).

ItwillbeinterestingtoknowwhetherECIspecificallyissuenotificationforuseofEVMinthegeneralelectionofManipur2012.What
happenswhenwecasteourvotes?ThegeneralprocessofelectronicvotingonthemostcommonEVMsmodelsgoessomethinglike
this:

1.Thevoterchecksinwiththevoter'sIDwithpollworkers.Thepollingpersonnelandtheagentsverifythenameandidentifythevoter.
Theyobtainedsignatureorthumbprintofthevoter.Topreventdoublevoting,theymarkthevoter'srightindexfingerwithindelibleink

2.Next,apollworkerpressestheBALLOTbuttononthecontrolunittoallowonevote.ThiscausesagreenREADYlighttoglowonthe
ballotunit.

3.Thevoterentersthepollingboothandpressesthebuttonforthecandidateofhisorherchoice.Aredlightnexttothecandidate
buttonglows,thereadylightturnsoff,andthecontrolunitemitsaloudbeeptoindicatethatthevotehasbeencast.Theredlightthen
turnsoffautomatically.Thisprocessrepeatsforeachvoter.

4.Attheendofthepoll,thepresidingofficerremovesaplasticcaponthecontrolunitandpressestheCLOSEbutton,whichprevents
theEVMfromacceptingfurthervotes.Theballotunitisdisconnectedandthecontrolunitisplacedinstorageuntilthepubliccount,
whichmayoccurweekslater.

5.Onthecountingday,thecontrolunitsaredeliveredtoacountingcentre.Inpublicview,anelectionofficialbreaksasealonthe
controlunitandpressestheRESULTbutton.Thedisplayonthecontrolunitshowsasequenceofoutputs:thenumberofcandidates,
thetotalvotes,andthenumberofvotesreceivedbyeachcandidate.

6.TheCountingofficialsmanuallyrecordthetotalsfromeachmachineandaddthemtogethertodeterminetheresultsoftheelection.
Themachinesarethenplacedinstorageuntilthenextelection.

DisadvantagesofEVM:

Somedisadvantagesofelectronicvotingcanincludevirusesandhacking,aswellphysicaltampering.Despiteelaboratesafeguards,
India'sEVMsarevulnerabletoseriousattacks.

1.EVMSoftwareIsn'tSafeTheelectronicvotingmachinesaresafeandsecureonlyifthesourcecodeusedintheEVMsisgenuine.
Shockingly,theEVMmanufacturers,theBELandECILhavesharedthe'topsecret'EVMsoftwareprogramwithtwoforeigncompanies,
Microchip(USA)andRenesas(Japan)tocopyitontomicrocontrollersusedinEVMs.Thisprocesscouldhavebeendonesecurelyin
housebytheIndianmanufacturers.Worse,whentheforeigncompaniesdelivermicrocontrollersfusedwithsoftwarecodetotheEVM
manufacturers,theEVMmanufacturerscannot"readback"theircontentsastheyareeitherOTPROMormaskedchips.Amusingly,the
softwaregiventoforeigncompaniesisnotevenmadeavailablewiththeElectionCommission,ostensiblyforsecurityreasons.With
such ridiculous decisions, the Election Commission and the public sector manufacturers have rendered security of the EVMs a
mockery.(GVLNarasimhaRaohttp://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanningindianevms.pdf)

2.EVMhardwareIsn'tSafe The danger for EVM manipulations is not just from its software. Even the hardware isn't safe. Dr. Alex
Halderman,professorofcomputerscienceintheUniversityofMichigansays,"EVMsusedintheWestrequiresoftwareattacksasthey
aresophisticatedvotingmachinesandtheirhardwarecannotbereplacedcheaply.Incontrast,theIndianEVMscaneasilybereplaced
eitherinpartoraswholesaleunits."OnecrucialpartthatcanbefakedismicrocontrollersusedintheEVMsinwhichthesoftwareis
copied. EVM manufacturers have greatly facilitated fraud by using generic microcontrollers rather than more secure ASIC or FPGA
microcontrollers.

Not just only microcontrollers, mother boards (cards which contain microcontrollers) and entire EVMs can be replaced. Neither the
ElectionCommissionnorthemanufacturershaveundertakenanyhardwareorsoftwareaudittilldate.Asaresult,suchmanipulation
attemptswouldgoundetected.Todetectsuchfraud,theupgradedEVMshaveaprovisiontointerfacewithanAuthenticationUnitthat
wouldallowthemanufacturerstoverifywhethertheEVMbeingusedintheelectionisthesamethattheyhavesuppliedtotheElection
Commission.TheEVMmanufacturersdevelopedan"AuthenticationUnit"engagingtheservicesofSecureSpin,aBangalorebased
softwareservicesfirm.TheUnitwasdevelopedandtestedin2006butwhentheprojectwasreadyforimplementation,theprojectwas

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mysteriouslyshelvedattheinstanceoftheElectionCommission.SeveralquestionsposedtotheElectionCommissionfortakingthis
decisionwentunanswered.(GVLNarasimhaRaohttp://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanningindianevms.pdf)

3. Vulnerability to hacking: The Indian EVMs can be hacked both before and after elections to alter election results. Apart from
manipulatingtheEVMsoftwareandreplacingmanyhardwarepartsdiscussedabove,IndianEVMscanbehackedinmanyways.To
possibilitiesmaybementioned:EachEVMcontainstwoEEPROMsinsidetheControlUnitinwhichthevotingdataisstored.Theyare
completelyunsecuredandthedatainsideEEPROMscanbemanipulatedfromanexternalsource.Itisveryeasytoread(datafrom)
the EEPROMs and manipulate them (GVL Narasimha Raohttp://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanningindian
evms.pdf)

ThesecondandthemostdeadlywaytohackIndianEVMsisbyinsertingachipwithTrojaninsidethedisplaysectionoftheControl
unit. This requires access to the EVM for just two minutes and these replacement units can be made for a few hundred rupees.
Bypassingcompletelyallinbuiltsecurities,thischipwouldmanipulatetheresultsandgiveout"fixed"resultsontheEVMscreen.The
ElectionCommissioniscompletelyoblivioustosuchpossibilities.(http://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanningindian
evms.pdf)

ContrarytoclaimsbyIndianelectionauthorities,thesepaperlessEVMssufferfromsignificantvulnerabilities.Evenbriefaccesstothe
machinescouldallowdishonestelection"Insiders"orothercriminalstoalterelectionresults.Thereareallegationsthatsome"insiders"
demandingvastsums(Rs.5Croreormoreforeachassemblyconstituency)tofixelectionresults.

Whoaretheseinsiders?

Unlike in the traditional ballot system where only the election officials were the "insiders", electronic voting machine regime has
spawnedalongchainofinsiders,allofwhomareoutsidetheambitandcontroloftheElectionCommissionofIndia.Thereisevery
possibilitythatsomeofthese"insiders"areinvolvedinmurkyactivitiesinfixingelections.ThewholeworldexceptusinIndiaisalive
tothedangersofinsiderfraudinelections.The"insiders"includethepublicsectormanufacturersofIndia'selectronicvotingmachines
namely, the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL), the foreign companies supplying
microcontrollers, private players (some of which are allegedly owned by some political leaders) for carrying out checking and
maintenance of electronic voting machines during elections. (http://www.indianevm.com/articles/tenreasonsforbanningindian
evms.pdf)

Ateamofresearchersshowedpreciselyhowadisplaycomponentcouldbereplacedwithafakesubstituteprogrammedtosteala
percentageofthevotesinfavourofachosencandidate.Theyalsodemonstratedhowstoredvotescouldbechangedbetweenthe
election and the public counting session, which in India, can be weeks later, with a pocketsized device. The team, comprising
HyderabadbasedNetIndia,DrJAlexHalderman,professor&notedexpertonelectronicvotingsecurityfromtheUniversityofMichigan
andHollandbasedsecurityexpertRopGonggrijp,wasinstrumentalinthebanonEVMsintheNetherlands.

Tobecontinued...

*Dr.KhomdonSinghLisamcontributestoepao.netregularly
ThewriterisamedicaldoctorwhoworkedastheMedicalSuperintendentofJNIMSandwasalsoanexProjectDirector,MACSand
ExConsultant,NACO.
Thewritercanbecontactedatkhomdonlisam2005(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
ThisarticlewaspostedonApril01,2012.

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