AAP asks Election Commission for full, unconditional access to EVMs in challenge
The Aam Aadmi Party has asked the Election Commission to give experts nominated by political parties unrestricted access to the inside as well as the outside of the voting machines during the planned tampering challenge, which was expected to begin on June 3. An AAP delegation met the commission on Wednesday and handed over a memorandum.
AAP’s demand
The delegation urged the commission not to impose rules and to let the exercise be an open “hackathon” where any kind of tampering could be shown. In the memorandum, AAP national secretary Pankaj Kumar Gupta said the matter concerned the protection of democracy rather than any single party, and called on the commission, as the guardian of democracy, to decide in the country’s long-term interest.
The commission’s format
After opposition parties alleged tampering, the commission announced on May 20 that party nominees could examine EVMs used in the recent elections in five states. Under its terms, nominees must try to tamper with the machines while they remain under the commission’s technical and administrative safeguards. They will be allowed to press single keys or key sequences on the ballot unit, the control unit or both, and may try to communicate with the machines from outside using wireless, Bluetooth or mobile phones.
Earlier objections
AAP, which has blamed the BJP’s recent assembly wins on EVM tampering, had earlier called the challenge “conditional”, likening it to asking someone to cross the sea with tied limbs. AAP functionary Sanjay Singh argued that people who tamper with EVMs would not follow commission guidelines.
Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP’s MLA from Greater Kailash and a software engineer, had earlier given a demonstration in the Delhi assembly of how an EVM’s motherboard could be altered to rig a result. Gupta wrote that people across the country who saw it now wanted assurance that the election process remained clean.
See also: Aam Aadmi Party and election news
Originally published on 25 May 2017. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
Related News
Assembly Elections 2026 Dates
Election 2026 Date Announcement LIVE: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has officially announced theRead More
Anti-CAA protests planned in Kolkata as Modi arrives; Owaisi leads Hyderabad rally
Opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a proposed nationwide NRC was set toRead More
Comments are Closed