The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Wednesday organised a workshop for civil servants and senior police officers as part of an ongoing programme by the Election Commission to “dispel misconceptions” about EVMs by creating awareness amongst opinion-makers.
The workshop was held at the Delhi Secretariat and saw participation of about 200 officers, the Delhi CEO said in a statement. A presentation on EVM/VVPAT was made by Professor D.T. Shahani, Professor Emeritus, IIT Delhi, Chairman of Technical Expert Committee of the ECI.
“He explained the technological features, administrative protocols and transparency aspects laid down by the ECI for handling EVM/VVPAT and stated that it is impossible to hack EVMs or tamper with because these machines have one-time programmable (OTP) chip and do not have any Internet/Wi-Fi/radio connectivity,” the Delhi CEO said in a statement adding that, at every stage, political parties and candidates were involved.
The VVPATs, the statement said, had enabled voters to verify their vote through the printed paper slip at the time of casting their vote.
The CEO, while speaking on the occasion. appealed to the participants to spread the message that every voter identity cardholder must verify his or her name in the voter list by calling the voter helpline number 1950 or at www.nvsp.in or by sending SMS to 7738299899. Every un-enrolled voter and left out voter in Delhi must enroll by submitting Form-6 either online or offline, the statement said further.
The Delhi Chief Secretary, while speaking on the occasion, emphatically stated that there is no room for any doubt about EVMs. “The Chief Secretary also called for keen and close observation of the election campaign to detect any malpractices,” the statement added.