Public opinion on the integrity of EVMs in Maharashtra is highly polarized, with a predominant distrust in the electoral process. Many commenters call for a return to ballot paper voting due to perceptions of manipulation and bias within the Election Commission towards the ruling party. While some defend EVMs as reliable, the overall sentiment highlights significant concerns about electoral transparency and integrity, fueling demands for reform and greater oversight.

Election Commission

Opposition Parties

Their High Command will insist on behaving like ostriches. Just hope the gents quoted in the article are not suspended for indiscipline.

DJMhat

It's high time Congress needs to move on from gandhi family. Mr kharge is already on the verge of retirement. They need young mind and new generation of leaders . They still have a huge backing from crowd believe it or not. Whatever Rahul Gandhi ideology ain't working.

Fine-Commission-3577

Truth is bitter and requires action to be taken so, Very few people in the party will accept this view  as they want to maintain the status quo of doing nothing. As one  of their ex party spokesman said " the general feeling in the party is "People will get tired of the ruling party and elect us, so do nothing". Say what you may , but the fact remains that the BJP is a well oiled , laser focused election winning machine(win at any cost by any means) , while the congress expects to win elections putting in the least efforts , when you have such a formidable opponent you need to bring your "A" game to play not the "D" game.

mumbaiblues

Secure_Lynx6892

Finally someone with the courage to speak truth to leadership

beingalone666

&gt;This wasn't a rigged election. The words EVM should not be uttered when losing just as they are forgotten when we are winning. We didn't just lose , we got obliterated in a state where we were once No.1. If there is no accountability, there will be no change. I am hoping against hope that this isn't the case.



https://x.com/santvarun/status/1860585851299754120

&gt;Despite ALL these factors, MVA could have won the elections in Maharashtra if it had run a coherent, aggressive campaign to oust the Mahayuti govt — one that focused on BOTH substantive and emotive issues while leaving NO stone unturned on the ground. Instead, MVA took voters for granted, blindly expecting a repeat of their 2024 Lok Sabha success.

&gt;If you still want to blame EVMs and dodge accountability, EXPLAIN THIS: Congress retained Nanded in the Lok Sabha by-poll while losing ALL SIX Vidhan Sabha segments.

https://x.com/MKumaramangalam/status/1860509020597158051

&gt;"...I have been participating in elections using EVMs since 2004. I have personally had no bad experience. Nor do I have any evidence to prove that there has been any kind of manipulation or tampering. If others have any kind of doubt about the efficacy of EVMs, it is really for them to say. But I personally have no doubt about the robustness of the efficacy of EVMs. Because we win elections in EVMs, we lose elections in EVMs. Unless someone actually proves with scientific data that there has been manipulation, I am not willing to change my view. I know that many in my party have a different point of view, it's really for them to explain it."

https://x.com/ANI/status/1860935064508596413

Well said.

There seem to be very few, even within the Congress party, who actually believe that EVM rigging is the cause of their defeats. Even when it is the official party line that is being parroted by senior leadership and spokespersons.

1-randomonium

[deleted]

Sure also do that, but it's not ECI and EVM are not suspicious. Ask for more transparency , VVYPAT receipt for every voter right after they vote.

Nsci

Most likely paid bots are commenting under this post. 

There is too much discrepancy that has been happening with EVMs. Just think about it logically, how and why is the voting percentage going up in places where BJP is ruling? 5pm voting stops, they give some voting percentage, but after a few hours, the voting percentage is up by over 5-7% in BJP controlled states? Wtf is going on?

Keep in mind that elections in India in majority of places has a margin of victory of between 5-10%, so manipulation of EVMs to make up for that is just way too convenient. 

Another thing, how can places which have voted for Congress just few months back in the general elections suddenly have massive shifts of polling in assembly elections to the BJP or BJP allied? What changed? Their image has actually become worse, so what gives?

There was also a paper written by an author a while [back](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4512936) which said the same thing but it argued differently with deleting voter rolls etc for general elections 2019 but this time eroneous voting is taking place with fault being with EMVs.

There was an article from the wire or was it from some publication who did an analysis of historical victory margin and they concluded the same that it is within 5%, so **now**, seeing that voting percentage is going up by 5-7% during haryana elections and during Maharastra elections but **not** during Jarkhand elections where the voting percentage final number is within a 1% tolerance. 

What are you all smoking to say that there is no manipulation? Congress has already filed petitions for EVM audit in haryana elections [here](https://www.business-standard.com/elections/haryana-elections/haryana-elections-cong-files-complain-with-eci-over-outcome-of-state-poll-124101000278_1.html), but those were dismissed without verification by ECI. They are ready to pay for verification, but they are not doing verification. If that is not foul play, then what is? Just saying they are baseless without doing verification, how does it instill confidence that you are being partial? The ECI is not bearing the cost, Congress is ready to pay ECI for this, then why is it not doing it?

Even if it turns out after verification that those accusations were baseless, how is that bad? You are instilling more confidence in the electoral process. But dismissing without verification you are saying we are corrupt, we helped BJP win elections.

This should happen all over India, these machines have never been allowed to be torn apart and tested independently, whenever anyone asks for testing, arguments of calling them anti-national, loser etc are thrown. Arre, check karo na. 

Be rest assured, if the victory margin is anywhere between 5%, **BJP is going to win always in BJP controlled states**. All those reports of UP's gunda CM saying the ROs didn't cooperate, that's why they lost elections, what does that tell you? Another thing, they lost in UP elections because SP won overwhelming against BJP, so even after manipulation they lost because people got so fed up of BJP and they voted against them overwhelmingly.

100% VVPAT matching must be mandatory everywhere and an external independent audit after election results is announced to further verify that yup the counting was legit. 

I have no hope left in this country, even people are fed up and they are being led to believe through PMO controlled godi media that voters chose such incompetent ministers and people prefer hate overwhemingly when that is not the case, yes, hate has risen but majority of people just want to mind their business and have enough to feed themselves.

Downvote me all you want. If you have legitimate counters to what I have said, I am all ears. But this is all too convenient. 5 crore extra voters out of nowhere were added in General elections 2024. If you are a little math competent, even you can do the analysis yourself of votes polled and voter's actual number and how they don't make sense neither it did in general elections nor it does in these elections.

HelloPipl

This is the problem. Questioning EVM security always depends on the results. If you win there is no issue with the EVM and if you lose, EVMs have been hacked..

Cyber security and transparency doesn't depend on if BJP wins or not. We should continue to make the Election commission answer questions about the security and vulnerabilities of the EVMs, irrespective of who wins and who loses..

GobhiHaiToPumpkinHai

This election result doesn't prove anything about evm rigging one way or the other. How do you know there s no  rigging happening in small scale?
I don't think anyone claims that all the evms are rigged to turn large losses into wins. In fact the incidents that were caught like the one in Aasam, clearly show that some foul play does happen.

kapjain

You think Modi and Shah will risk exposure for Bengal. They will let go small win over large victory. Only Election which matters for Modi-Shah is Lok Sabha.

rookie_broker

I disagree both the BJP and the opposition can and will try to mess with them since they can be manipulated

Dankjets911

&gt;&gt;&gt;The problem isn’t with EVMs but those who vote. Try to educate them to vote for better options instead of peddling these conspiracy theories. The latter will only help suppress voter turnout.

I agree but putting a better phrasing:

&gt; ) We need to educate voters there are options outside the big parties.

&gt; ) Nota is a good option when all the candidates are sad and bad.

&gt; ) Choosing an educated, not literate leader is always better.

&gt; ) Discard freebies distributor, choose change maker.

&gt; ) Question your leader, make them perform otherwise next cycle choose 
another option not succumbing to give me another chance.

&gt; ) Discard appeasers, inform police of illegal activities, cut money lovers.

&gt; ) Raise voice for people, not your favorite political parties.

&gt; ) Learn that you only can protect your country, religion from the shitty politicians and their appeasement politics and selfish motives.

Absolutely agree. Parties sound like sore losers blaming on EVMs. They have to realize that questioning the process is very dangerous thing and can lead to events such as Jan 6th.

StrangeJonny

No. Never take things for granted. Mere assurances of the EC won't do. We need to put systems in place which can prevent malpractice.

Every damn VVPAT slip should be counted and result should be declared only after the vvpat count matches with the EVM count. Results may take a couple more days to come out but that shouldn't be a problem at all. 

Nothing is more important in a democracy than the integrity of elections.

desirobinhood

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 *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

haneef4

Even MP, Rajasthan, Punjab and CG won by Congress and I dont think it would be possible with EVM tampering. Not saying it never happens but I dont think it is that widespread.

jag3rbomb

I've been seeing a lot of questions about

1. Why go electronic

2. Why use evm when other countries don't

3. Why sc asks to count a specific number of votes

And more of these....

If you wish to get informed better by a source that's not political. By a source from India's top research institute, by a source who **designed** the evms

Watch this

[https://youtu.be/E0ORLvgM8ro](https://youtu.be/E0ORLvgM8ro)

I personally think this provides more info than the dhruv rathee video. 

Edit : Forgot to mention that it's a 2 hr video. Thanks OP

Edit 2 : Just an update:
In the recently concluded General Election, voter slips from 20625 VVPAT machines (randomly chosen 5 machines from each assembly contrituency) were counted. These were from &gt;4000 assembly constituencies constituting 542 Lok Sabha seats. This represents about 20 Lakh votes counted by hand.
Not a single case of mismatch -- even by one vote -- between the electronic count and the manual count was reported from anywhere.

This is a comment by the speaker of the video himself.

**IDK, but EVM conspiracy is not a bad thing per se.** The very essence of a fair election is the transparency and confidence in the whole process. 

We common people alone can not ensure this. The onus lies on political parties, they have the resources and power to deploy booth workers. 

These booth workers or polling agents play a vital role during elections. They are employed to oversee the elections — on polling booths, at strong room and during the counting. 

If these people are suspicious, they will always stay on edge and perform their duty diligently.

EVMs have made elections better. There is higher voting percentage, fewer instances of booth capturing &amp; ballot stuffing. There is no question of going back to ballot papers.

If other countries don't want to use it it's their choice. This EVM is our creation and we should be proud of it. The precautions that are taken to ensure their safety is both technical and procedural. And it's important to remember no one has managed to prove they can be tampered with till now. Innocent until proven guilty.

People asking for count of all VVPAT votes are ignoring the fact that the more votes you recount the higher the chances of error. It takes longer hours, fatigue will set in and errors are inevitable  It's better to take random EVMs selected by booth agents (if they feel suspicious) and compare their VVPAT tally and recorded tally. This method is reliable.

Political parties will blame everyone except themselves for their loss. We should be rational enough to discriminate between reality and bluster. Otherwise it's difficult to hold parties accountable and importantly for parties themselves to introspect.

SocioliberalBuddha

No they won't. The mistrust in EVMs stem from the mistrust in Election Commissioners and their underlings, since they neither talk nor act sternly against transgressions by BJP leaders. As long as ECs continue to behave like BJP's bitches, the mistrust in EVMs too will remain.

Here's my take on it.

ECI has been compromised and surrendered to BJP like Supreme Court. But hacking EVM also requires a very weak opponent. As long as parties are very alert, it can't be hacked. AAP workers guarded the rooms and kept ECI in check.

AAP hacking EVMs? Nah. It can't be hacked from remote location. One need to physically access it. So no!

imo. elections in a democracy are just too important to be left to technology. vvpat was supposed to provide an alternative where there was a paper trail but EC has made a mockery of it. 

what is the use of vvpat when you are just going to cross verify a very limited number of machines. and it's hard to say that they are even doing that. 

and the story about how the vvpat slips of general elections are already destroyed even though their own rules say that they need to be preserved for one year? the whole thing is batshit crazy.

EC needs to involve citizens in the whole process. the way they behave right now... is just too suspicious. web pages talking about evm machine hacks are blocked on the internet. people are jailed for taking about it. visas are canceled. people are mocked for talking about the subject in social media. this is not how you push the stability and security of the project. 

work with people who want to check source code. make the entire platform open for scrutiny. take feedback. implement improvements. get security and privacy experts involved. get civil society involved.

update: forgot to mention one point. 

and ffs... keep Nandan Nilekani, iSPIRT and other asshats out of the process. these techbros are responsible for a lot of mess this country is in. they should be kept as far away as possible from any government project.

chromaniac

what if bjp lost despite evm manipulation ?

the way the EC has bent over backwards to please bjp and keep all scrutiny off evms is suspicious anyways.

viksi

sam-sepiol

EVM can be hacked like every other electronic machine but  Axis-india today exit polls have predicted every election last 5 years with terrifying accuracy .  They are very much anti BJP and still got  it right. 

Modi is still extremely popular , BJP has not lost ground but Congress conceding power to regional parties with actual leadership seems to be besting BJP

noxx1234567

Nope, if they kept quiet, that gives BJP the chance to rig elections and AAP has no choice but to accept the verdict because making an accusation after results are out makes them the butt end of jokes. Making some noise before results keeps the EC at its toes.

kulikitaka

BJP's own publication :

'[Democracy At Risk! Can We Trust Our Electronic Voting Machines?](https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Trust-Electronic-Voting-Machines/dp/8191006502)'

released few years ago.

rig_vedic_sage

It could also mean that parties other than BJP can never let their guards down. I say non-BJP  coz no other party has the capability to pull something like this off.

Pessimist-Indian

How did BJP manage to get 40% vote share ? They have nothing to show for it. I just can't believe people fall for their propaganda.

jsyn1011

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BigNunu69

I worked as presiding officer in two elections about 10 years ago. I think, the process has been explained truly and clearly. I don't have technical expertise, but EVM hack seems impossible (from what I saw in those two elections). To hack it, one would need physical access to EVM machines and would have to open them. The machines are sealed with paper seals which are signed by the party representatives present at the booth. So tampering with the seal also seems impossible.

pa_one4452

Only clowns think EVMs can be and are hacked.

IndBeak

So why does opposition scream about EVM HACK. And why even after so much events the people choose the same cm from 2005

Many times I have seen new evms being delivered in polling stations stating EVM stopped working. How does that work if the EVM id is already notified to candidates beforehand?

do_dum_cheeni_kum

Exactly right. Somebody who has observed the process closely I could say that don't believe in rumours. There are no safer ways to conduct a fair election then an EVM.

Groundbreaking_Tart9

I read his post long back. I believe VVPAT was not introduced back then. In VVPAT machines, candidates are mapped with their respective symbols. Intelligent programs for manipulation can be fed while mapping!

virenprabhat

I also trust EC but I have only one question .Why EC so adamant about opposing  100 percent VVPAT verification at any cost..?.. They give more time constipation as excuse... 
 But is time really valid excuse in a case where the very essence of democracy is free and fair election.?.. Even if time taken for counting takes double of current time ... For sake of clarity and security of electoral process...any steps that can increase trust /security of EVM should be wholeheartedly welcomed, ... Not frowned upon.. giving more time consumption as excuse I can't get around it...

phoenix1234321

Lazy_Willow_4521

Someone tweet it to INDI alliance and Rahul baba specially

Dazzling_Gandhi

If evms could be tampered, do people really think the most corrupt and the worst regime of congress of 2014 would have let power slip through their hands in 2014 like that? When they win state elections, all is good, when they lose, evm hacked. EVM hack wouldn’t give AAP so many seats delhi where bjp itself campaigned hard and lost. So if evm are hacked then congress, bjp, aap all have hacked it.

BlackoutMenace5

The present demand of counting votes as well as VVPATs will increase the transparency. The petition in SC is also demanding just this thing.  And I don’t feel this to be unjustified. 

An IAS will always say what the government and ECI wants him to say. Let’s listen to his opinions with a pinch of salt.

MrBlurryFace26

Did EC hired Mr. IAS to educate people? Or Mr.IAS thinks he can earn some brownie point?

Guilty-Ad-6166

Babe don’t wake up the regular political blame game started which we knew was going to happen

ChandlerBingsSarcasm

Predictably, they seem to have no doubts regarding the EVMs used in Jharkhand, or in the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala.

Gopu_17

evms rigged only in maharashtra? but democracy won in jharkhand what a joke of a party

PointySalt

Ajit pawar getting double the seats than Sharad pawar is whats mind boggling. Definitely some shit went down.

NightFury002

Basically, when Narendra was on the ballot (during the parliamentary elections), MH voters said "No thanks" but when he was irrelevant to the election, like right now, the voters went with the NDA. 

In JH, Amit Shah and Yogi campaigned on a hard right, extremely divisive agenda and came up empty handed.

If that isn't a slap in face for Narendra and Amit, I don't know what is. Narendra is old goods now. NarAmYogi need to be pensioned off. People are tired of their brand of politics.

zeer0dotcom

The Election Commission confirmed the integrity of EVMs in Maharashtra amid opposition parties' allegations, ensuring electoral fairness.

Maharashtra EVM Verification Results

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want