With questions being raised in the wake of a few recent election results, where the most improbable of candidates have registered huge wins against all expectations, a fair amount of skepticism has crept in with many believing that the EVMs are vulnerable to frauds. Free and fair election is the touchstone of a democracy. If there is the slightest suspicion that the electoral process can be compromised, it is the duty of the Election Commission to dispel such misgivings. As computer experts opine, there is no piece of hardware that cannot be hacked or cracked into. Though not computers in the strictest sense, as electronic gadgets, EVMs are no extraordinary contraptions that cannot be flirted with.
Therefore, it is pertinent that the Election Commission makes all efforts to validate the accuracy of the machines from time to time. High polling rate is a sign of a vibrant democracy, of an electorate exercising its franchise. But mass-scale rigging and muscle power have been inseparable parts of an Indian election and, hence, it becomes difficult to believe that voter turnout is indeed the ‘political will’ of the people, ascertaining itself in numbers! Criminalisation has further rendered our political system toothless in so far as a representative democracy is concerned. Although unwilling to send individuals with questionable antecedents to the high seats of power, voters are left with no choice with parties fielding such candidates to contest the elections. With criminalisation of politics at its peak, one can well imagine the consequences of adopting the ‘digital ‘election process that is drawing flak for its unreliability.