MEMORANDUM

May 3rd , 2019

Ref: 0044A/2019

To,

Chief Election Commissioner &

His Companion Election Commissioners of India

The Election Commission of India,

Nirvachan Sadan
New Delhi - 110001

Dear Sirs,

RE: NEED FOR SAFEGUARDING THE ELECTRONIC VOTING

MACHINES

As we approach the date of the election results for General Elections

2019, we wish to bring to your attention the need for various safeguards
vis-a-vis the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM's):

1. We request that the details of each EVM be provided well

in advance including the number of the Machine and the
polling booth to which it is assigned.

2. We request also that in the case of machines that have been

found to be faulty or those that have malfunctioned, the
number may be provided to all parties in the interests of
transparency.

3. We further request that when a faulty machine is replaced

with a new machine, the number of the new machine
may also be provided along with other relevant details.

4. In addition, when a new machine is brought in mid way

then details as to the number of mock trials the machine
has been through (if any) should also be provided.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court has recently declared that the results of 5
EVMs shall be cross checked against the VVPAT trail. However, with
less than 20 days for the results to be announced no guidelines have

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been provided by the Hon'ble ECI for the method and manner in which
this exercise will be conducted.

To that end we request that the selection of the 5 VVPATs be at the

discretion of the individuals who have raised concerns with regard to
the integrity. In other words, the selection of the 5 EVMs should not be
pre-determined as it defeats the purpose of cross-verification but
instead it should be random at the discretion of the party raising
concerns.

All of the above will help ensure a level playing field and will bring about
greater transparency in the electoral process.

We are hopeful that you will agree that these are basic safeguards which
benefit all individuals across party lines. We hope you treat this matter
with the urgency it deserves.

Warm Regards,

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