Slamming the Congress for its allegation that electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be hacked, the Election Commission of India Tuesday stressed asserted that the EVMs were 100 per cent tamper-proof.

Rejecting the Opposition analogy of EVMs and pagers, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said pagers are connected but not the EVMs.

Addressing a press conference, he said, “The system is absolutely safe and robust. Look at the last 15-20 elections. It is giving results after results differently. It can’t be that it is wrong, only the results are not to your liking…”

“EVMs are totally reliable. Hundred per cent tamper-proof, which I have repeated many times previously and I will do it again,” he added.

Responding to Congress’ charges on Haryana polls, Rajiv Kumar assured, “We will respond to all 20 complaints on EVMs individually, fact-by-fact.”

He pointed out that citizens have consistently shown faith in the system by actively participating in elections.

“A major distortion is being created due to Exit Polls and expectations set by it. This is a matter of deliberation and introspection for the Press, especially for electronic media. In the last few elections, 2-3 things are happening simultaneously if we look at the entire canvas together… First, an Exit Poll comes – we don’t govern it… But there is a need for self-introspection, what was the sample size, where was the survey done, how did the result come and what is my responsibility if I did not match that result, are there disclosures – all of these need to be seen,” he said.

”There are bodies which govern this… I am sure the time has come that associations or bodies which govern will do some self-regulation… Counting happens roughly on the third day after the elections. Expectations rise from 6 pm… But there is no scientific base to this in public disclosure,” he said.

Explaining further, he said, ”When counting begins, results start pouring in at 8.05-8.10 am. This is nonsense. The first counting (of EVMs) begins at 8.30 am… Are the initial trends to justify the Exit Poll? We start putting the results at 9.30 am on the website… So, when the actual results start coming in, there is a mismatch. That mismatch can lead to serious issues sometimes. The gap between expectations and achievements is nothing but frustration. So, this issue is such that it needs some deliberation…”

He emphasised that the ECI remains committed to ensuring elections take place in a festive atmosphere, with all essential facilities provided for voters. “We encourage all voters to step out and actively participate in this democratic celebration.”

During his address, he highlighted various initiatives taken by the ECI like the option of a Postal Ballot Facility, process reengineering in terms of online nominations, online campaigning, and Covid Appropriate protocols like social distancing to ensure Covid safe elections.

Earlier in the day, speaking on the poll dates for Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Congress leader Rashid Alvi said, “In Maharashtra, the Opposition should put pressure on voting by paper ballot and not EVMs. Otherwise, in Maharashtra, the BJP government and the Election Commission can do anything.”

He said if a pager can be rigged, so can the EVMs. ”If Israel can kill people by use of pagers and walkie-talkies, then where does EVM stand? The PM has very good relations with Israel. Israel is an expert in such things. ‘EVM ka bada khel kahin bhi ho sakta hai aur uske liye BJP chunav se pehle yeh sab khel kar leti hai’. (A big game of this can happen anywhere and for that the BJP plays all these games before the elections),” he charged.

Last week, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh submitted a memorandum to the ECI alleging irregularities during the Haryana elections. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said his party had compiled a list of 20 constituencies where candidates reported issues with vote counting.

The ECI announced that the Assembly elections in Maharashtra would be held in a single phase on 20th November while in Jharkhand in two phases – 13th November and 20th November.

Counting of votes for both the states will take place on 23rd November.