New Delhi: “Come, try hack our EVMs and show they can be tampered with,” the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday, inviting political parties and experts to the “open challenge”.
While the EC is yet to decide on the exact date, it said the challenge would be held in the first week of May and could continue for 10 days.
The last time such an event had taken place was in 2009 when 100 machines from different parts of the country were kept at Vigyan Bhawan. No one, EC claimed, could hack the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
When Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had met chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi with a complaint on EVMs last week, he was told that the poll panel is planning such an event.
This time, the venue could be Nirvachan Sadan, the EC headquarters.
The specifics would be decided by the EC’s technical expert committee on EVMs and the details would be made public in the next couple of days.
There is a strong possibility that EVMs used in the Uttar Pradesh polls could also be brought in for the challenge. Teh Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had first alleged that tampered machines helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the polls, an allegation that was supported by the AAP.
As per rules, EVMs cannot be taken out of the strong room for 40 days—a period within which an aggrieved person can file an election petition before the high court concerned. That period will end later this month.
“From first week of May, experts, scientists, technocrats can come for a week or 10 days and try tohack the machines,” said people in the EC familiar with the development. They said the challenge will be open for a week or 10 days.
