Hacked EVM, but theft case booked: Chandrababu Naidu’s tech advisor

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s technology adviser Vemuru Hari Prasad has claimed that in 2010 itself he had shown how electronic voting machines (EVMs) could be hacked, but a theft case was booked against him.

“I have no idea on the status of the case. I felt insulted when they said that I am an accused in a case of EVM theft,” Hari Prasad told TOI. “I have been honoured by the international community. I won the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2010,” Hari Prasad said. The current M3 version of EVMs machines could also be hacked, he added.

Hari Prasad said the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine functioning has also raised suspicions. “VVPAT machines are flashing paper trail only for three seconds, instead of the usual seven seconds. This shows that the original code inside the EVM is not sacrosanct. When a code is changed, the machine loses its integrity,” he added.

When asked whether it would affect AP Assembly poll results, Hari Prasad said: “I don’t think it will affect the election results unless someone really tampers and gets caught.” Hari said the EC’s technical expert committee recommended change of aluminium covers in November 2018 for the EVMs.

“Is there a link between this exercise with three-second code manipulation in the new M3 EVMs? In AP, the VVPAT paper slips were on display for both seven-second and three-second intervals. Are they functioning as programmed? As per status of VVPAT by EC (page 46), a paper trail has to be on display for seven seconds, then cuts and falls into a sealed box. In Patancheru constituency in booth number 148 Devarapalli village, it flashed for only three seconds. In a demonstration poll on April 10in Pileru, it was visible for only three seconds,” he added.