Election Commission of India has blasted the uncorroborated tongue in cheek allegation by Syed Shuja, a self styled cyber expert seeking asylum in the United States, who showed up on Skype to address a press conference in London on Monday and hurled the wild charge that the 2014 parliamentary elections in India were rigged by hacking the electronic voting machines (EVMs). He didn’t stop at that and went on to allege that the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, held after demonetisation, also were rigged in favour of the BJP.

About the Delhi Assembly election, that brought the Aam Aadmi Party to power with a historic mandate, Shuja said that his team could intercept low-frequency communication and reverse the Delhi results. Otherwise, the BJP would have swept these polls by hacking the EVMs, he said adding that low-frequency signals to rig the just concluded Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also were “successfully intercepted” and as a result, the BJP lost power in these States.

ECI has lodged an FIR against Shuja. The election body has also issued a statement to counter what it has described as a “motivated controversy”. &nbsp;ECI has placed on record the testimony of the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) members - Prof D T Shahani, Prof Emeritus IIT Delhi and Prof Rajat Moona, Director IIT Bhilai and Prof D K Sharma, Prof Emeritus IIT Bombay (Mumbai), who have have reconfirmed to the ECI that the ECI-EVMs are stand-alone machines designed to connect only amongst ECI-EVM units (Ballot Unit, Control Unit and VVPAT) through cables that remain in full public view. 
 
There is no mechanism in ECI-EVMs to communicate with any device through wireless communication on any Radio Frequency. All versions of ECI-EVMs are regularly and rigorously tested against low to high wireless frequencies. These tests include and go beyond the standard tests specified for electronic equipment. ECI-EVMs are regularly tested for proper functioning under all kind of operating conditions. ECI-EVMs are also regularly tested for code authentication and verification.

Meanwhile, in London, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) has distanced itself from the press conference that was jointly organised by the Indian Journalists’ Association (Europe) and FPA. A day after the presser, FPA tweeted: The Foreign Press Association strongly disassociates itself with any claims made by the speaker Syed Shuja during the #IJA event in London yesterday. Not one of the masked speaker’s accusations have so far been corroborated.

Italian Journalist in London, Deborah Bonetti, who writes for an Italian newspaper&nbsp;and is Director of the Foreign Press Association, who sat through the London press meet as a co-host later said in a tweet: “The speaker at yesterday’s event #IJA did not follow up his claims with any proof. He was not credible and should not have been given a platform”.

The Congress party also has chosen to distance itself from the London press conference. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that party senior Kapil Sibal, who was present at this event had been invited by a journalist and was not there to represent the Congress party.

When journalists present at the London presser asked Shuja whether or not he had evidence to corroborate his allegations, each time his reply was in the negative. At the fag-end of the whole exercise, one of the media-persons even thanked Shuja for “entertaining” them. The journalists repeatedly questioned him about his agenda and his stock reply was that he was bothered about protecting democracy in India. On being asked why it took him so long to raise the EVM hacking issue, Shuja talked of raising the matter with a TV personality and said that he had chosen to remain silent. &nbsp; 
 
He also told media-persons that the high profile Bangalore-based journalist Gauri Lankesh was in touch with him but was murdered before she could publish a news item on the “hacking of EVMs”. &nbsp;He even went on to make the ridiculous charge, without a shred of evidence, that late Union Minister Gopinath Munde was killed as he was aware of the hacking of EVMs during the 2014 polls.

Shuja deserves to be hauled up for what he has blurted out is obviously motivated towards undermining India's democracy and its robust electoral system, which is globally recognised and respected. He has also made a bizarre attempt to tarnish the image of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the parliamentary election. The ECI has lodged a criminal complaint against him and now he will be dealt with under the law.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Election Commission of India has blasted the uncorroborated tongue in cheek allegation by Syed Shuja, a self styled cyber expert seeking asylum in the United States, who showed up on Skype to address a press conference in London on Monday and hurled the wild charge that the 2014 parliamentary elections in India were rigged by hacking the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Election Commission of India has blasted the uncorroborated tongue in cheek allegation by Syed Shuja, a self styled cyber expert seeking asylum in the United States, who showed up on Skype to address a press conference in London on Monday and hurled the wild charge that the 2014 parliamentary elections in India were rigged by hacking the electronic voting machines (EVMs). He didn’t stop at that and went on to allege that the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, held after demonetisation, also were rigged in favour of the BJP. About the Delhi Assembly election, that brought the Aam Aadmi Party to power with a historic mandate, Shuja said that his team could intercept low-frequency communication and reverse the Delhi results. Otherwise, the BJP would have swept these polls by hacking the EVMs, he said adding that low-frequency signals to rig the just concluded Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also were “successfully intercepted” and as a result, the BJP lost power in these States. ECI has lodged an FIR against Shuja. The election body has also issued a statement to counter what it has described as a “motivated controversy”. ECI has placed on record the testimony of the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) members - Prof D T Shahani, Prof Emeritus IIT Delhi and Prof Rajat Moona, Director IIT Bhilai and Prof D K Sharma, Prof Emeritus IIT Bombay (Mumbai), who have have reconfirmed to the ECI that the ECI-EVMs are stand-alone machines designed to connect only amongst ECI-EVM units (Ballot Unit, Control Unit and VVPAT) through cables that remain in full public view. There is no mechanism in ECI-EVMs to communicate with any device through wireless communication on any Radio Frequency. All versions of ECI-EVMs are regularly and rigorously tested against low to high wireless frequencies. These tests include and go beyond the standard tests specified for electronic equipment. ECI-EVMs are regularly tested for proper functioning under all kind of operating conditions. ECI-EVMs are also regularly tested for code authentication and verification. Meanwhile, in London, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) has distanced itself from the press conference that was jointly organised by the Indian Journalists’ Association (Europe) and FPA. A day after the presser, FPA tweeted: The Foreign Press Association strongly disassociates itself with any claims made by the speaker Syed Shuja during the #IJA event in London yesterday. Not one of the masked speaker’s accusations have so far been corroborated. Italian Journalist in London, Deborah Bonetti, who writes for an Italian newspaper and is Director of the Foreign Press Association, who sat through the London press meet as a co-host later said in a tweet: “The speaker at yesterday’s event #IJA did not follow up his claims with any proof. He was not credible and should not have been given a platform”. The Congress party also has chosen to distance itself from the London press conference. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that party senior Kapil Sibal, who was present at this event had been invited by a journalist and was not there to represent the Congress party. When journalists present at the London presser asked Shuja whether or not he had evidence to corroborate his allegations, each time his reply was in the negative. At the fag-end of the whole exercise, one of the media-persons even thanked Shuja for “entertaining” them. The journalists repeatedly questioned him about his agenda and his stock reply was that he was bothered about protecting democracy in India. On being asked why it took him so long to raise the EVM hacking issue, Shuja talked of raising the matter with a TV personality and said that he had chosen to remain silent. He also told media-persons that the high profile Bangalore-based journalist Gauri Lankesh was in touch with him but was murdered before she could publish a news item on the “hacking of EVMs”. He even went on to make the ridiculous charge, without a shred of evidence, that late Union Minister Gopinath Munde was killed as he was aware of the hacking of EVMs during the 2014 polls. Shuja deserves to be hauled up for what he has blurted out is obviously motivated towards undermining India's democracy and its robust electoral system, which is globally recognised and respected. He has also made a bizarre attempt to tarnish the image of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the parliamentary election. The ECI has lodged a criminal complaint against him and now he will be dealt with under the law. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Election Commission is right to call EVM hackathon 'a motivated slugfest'

After holding a four-hour long &#39;hackathon&#39; to demonstrate that&nbsp;Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) cannot be rigged,&nbsp;the Election&nbsp;Commission of India, said on Saturday that the issue of tamperability of the machines&nbsp;stands closed.

In a post-event press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi maintained that the EVMs used by the EC are &quot;non-tamperable&quot; and with 100 per cent use of paper trail machines in all future elections the issue of tamperability of the machines &quot;stands closed&quot;.

The Chief Election Commissioner also ruled out going back to the paper ballot system, saying paper trail machines will usher in more transparency in future elections.

&quot;Once the EVMs are used with VVPATs (or paper trail machines) where a voter can see (cross check) the vote he has cast, it will usher in more transparency. Then there is no scope of going back to ballot (paper) system,&quot; he said.

Zaidi said the EC has already announced that in all future elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies, VVPAT machines would be attached to all EVMs.

The process would begin with Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat polls later this year. 
 
The AAP, which had said it would organise an EVM-hacking challenge in parallel with the one organised by the Election Commission today, said it will hold the exercise later.

The party has invited two government agencies which provide EVMs to the Election Commission - Bharat Electronics Limited and the Electronic Corporation of India Ltd - to participate in the challenge.

The AAP says it has not back-tracked from the challenge and has thrown open the floor to register for its hackathon.

The party will announce a &quot;bigger and better&quot; exercise than the one organised today by the poll body, spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said.

The AAP had declined to participate in the EC exercise, saying the terms and conditions put by the poll body defeat the purpose of an EVM-hacking challenge.&nbsp;

As many as 13 political parties questioned the reliability of the EVMs, but&nbsp;only two parties had accepted the poll panel&#39;s&nbsp;dare but they too opted out of the event held today (June 3).

Zaidi made it clear that there would be no such challenge in future to test the reliability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the poll-conducting body.

He said although the NCP and the CPI(M) reported at the challenge venue they backed out.

The CPI-M said it would not like to participate in the challenge.

The&nbsp;NCP decided to opt out after the Election Commission said it was unable&nbsp;to provide it the details with the&nbsp;details it had sought.

The NCP said the source of all their doubts had been the alleged problems with EVMs during civic body polls&nbsp;in Maharashtra. The Commission clarified that EVMs used by State Election Commission, Maharashtra for urban local bodies elections did not belong to it.

The party had asked&nbsp;for&nbsp;the memory number and battery number of the EVM four days in advance, party MP Vandana Chavan, who led the NCP team said.&nbsp; 
 
The NCP said it did not want to participate in any challenge but was only interested in an academic exercise.

An NCP representative submitted a letter saying they would not&nbsp;participate in the challenge because of non-provision of the information.

In the letter the representative also objected to the&nbsp;&quot;last minute&quot; change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to select an EVM out of the list of 14 EVMs brought for the challenge.

The NCP&nbsp;has been extended another chance to return at a later date to hack the machines as an &quot;academic exercise&quot;, the Chief Election Commissioner&nbsp;said.

The CPI(M) said it did not wish to participate in the challenge but only wanted a &quot;demonstration of the entire process&quot;.

&quot;A detailed demonstration of the entire process was given to them by our technical team...The CPI(M) team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that to allay any such doubts the Commission should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions with technical community proactively,&quot; Zaidi said in&nbsp;a statement.

The EC said since the machines were sealed, they could not&nbsp;be opened in the absence of party representatives, adding that the numbers could be accessed after opening the seals of the carry boxes at the time of the challenge.

The Election Commission had earlier refused to permit&nbsp;the&nbsp;Congress and the AAP from&nbsp;changing&nbsp;the motherboards and circuits&nbsp;of the Election Commission EVMs. The poll panel&nbsp;had said if this were to be&nbsp;allowed,&nbsp;the machines would not be the ECI-EVM but at best a &quot;look alike&quot;.

The Commission also did not allow parties like the BJP and the CPI to observe the challenge, saying the framework does not allow anyone to witness the event as an observer.

The BSP and the AAP had alleged that the machines used in the recent assembly elections were tampered with and favoured the BJP.

Over a dozen opposition parties, including the Congress, the BSP, the SP, the Left, the DMK, the JDU had urged the EC in April to revert to the paper ballot system in future elections, saying tampering allegations have created &quot;trust deficit&quot; on the reliability of the voting machines. 
 
(WION with inputs from PTI)

 
&nbsp;

The Election Commission had thrown open a challenge to prove that the machines can be tampered with

After holding a four-hour long 'hackathon' to demonstrate that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) cannot be rigged, the Election Commission of India, said on Saturday that the issue of tamperability of the machines stands closed. In a post-event press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi maintained that the EVMs used by the EC are "non-tamperable" and with 100 per cent use of paper trail machines in all future elections the issue of tamperability of the machines "stands closed". The Chief Election Commissioner also ruled out going back to the paper ballot system, saying paper trail machines will usher in more transparency in future elections. "Once the EVMs are used with VVPATs (or paper trail machines) where a voter can see (cross check) the vote he has cast, it will usher in more transparency. Then there is no scope of going back to ballot (paper) system," he said. Zaidi said the EC has already announced that in all future elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies, VVPAT machines would be attached to all EVMs. The process would begin with Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat polls later this year. The AAP, which had said it would organise an EVM-hacking challenge in parallel with the one organised by the Election Commission today, said it will hold the exercise later. The party has invited two government agencies which provide EVMs to the Election Commission - Bharat Electronics Limited and the Electronic Corporation of India Ltd - to participate in the challenge. The AAP says it has not back-tracked from the challenge and has thrown open the floor to register for its hackathon. The party will announce a "bigger and better" exercise than the one organised today by the poll body, spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said. The AAP had declined to participate in the EC exercise, saying the terms and conditions put by the poll body defeat the purpose of an EVM-hacking challenge. As many as 13 political parties questioned the reliability of the EVMs, but only two parties had accepted the poll panel's dare but they too opted out of the event held today (June 3). Zaidi made it clear that there would be no such challenge in future to test the reliability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the poll-conducting body. He said although the NCP and the CPI(M) reported at the challenge venue they backed out. The CPI-M said it would not like to participate in the challenge. The NCP decided to opt out after the Election Commission said it was unable to provide it the details with the details it had sought. The NCP said the source of all their doubts had been the alleged problems with EVMs during civic body polls in Maharashtra. The Commission clarified that EVMs used by State Election Commission, Maharashtra for urban local bodies elections did not belong to it. The party had asked for the memory number and battery number of the EVM four days in advance, party MP Vandana Chavan, who led the NCP team said. The NCP said it did not want to participate in any challenge but was only interested in an academic exercise. An NCP representative submitted a letter saying they would not participate in the challenge because of non-provision of the information. In the letter the representative also objected to the "last minute" change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to select an EVM out of the list of 14 EVMs brought for the challenge. The NCP has been extended another chance to return at a later date to hack the machines as an "academic exercise", the Chief Election Commissioner said. The CPI(M) said it did not wish to participate in the challenge but only wanted a "demonstration of the entire process". "A detailed demonstration of the entire process was given to them by our technical team...The CPI(M) team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that to allay any such doubts the Commission should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions with technical community proactively," Zaidi said in a statement. The EC said since the machines were sealed, they could not be opened in the absence of party representatives, adding that the numbers could be accessed after opening the seals of the carry boxes at the time of the challenge. The Election Commission had earlier refused to permit the Congress and the AAP from changing the motherboards and circuits of the Election Commission EVMs. The poll panel had said if this were to be allowed, the machines would not be the ECI-EVM but at best a "look alike". The Commission also did not allow parties like the BJP and the CPI to observe the challenge, saying the framework does not allow anyone to witness the event as an observer. The BSP and the AAP had alleged that the machines used in the recent assembly elections were tampered with and favoured the BJP. Over a dozen opposition parties, including the Congress, the BSP, the SP, the Left, the DMK, the JDU had urged the EC in April to revert to the paper ballot system in future elections, saying tampering allegations have created "trust deficit" on the reliability of the voting machines. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Issue of EVM tampering stands closed, says India's election panel after hackathon

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Election Commission is right to call EVM hackathon 'a motivated slugfest'

Issue of EVM tampering stands closed, says India's election panel after hackathon