Why did EC relax this ban to 24 hours subsequently?

• The  EC banned Himanta Biswa Sarma from campaigning for 48 hours for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The decision to ban him was taken on a complaint by the Congress that Sarma had “openly threatened” to send Bodoland Peoples’ Party (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary to jail by “misusing” the National Investigation Agency. In these elections, BPF is part of the Congress-led alliance.
• In his speech at a rally held on March 28, Sarma had said, “If Hagrama Mohilary does extremism with (insurgent) Batha he will go to jail. This is a straight talk… Already got a lot of evidence. This case is being given to NIA (National Investigation Agency)… And I do not care any Hagrama .. Tagrama. These arms recovery cases will be counted one by one after the election.” The EC debarred him from campaigning as it felt that his statement was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. However, in less than a day, the Commission relaxed the ban to 24 hours, which drew a lot of criticism.The decision to reduce Sarma’s punishment came after he submitted a representation to the EC urging a rethink: “…I would like to humbly state that during my entire career in politics more particularly during my election campaigns I have not attacked anyone at personal level and also, never violated any norms of Model Code of Conduct issued by the Election Commission of India.”
• He said that a ban in the last leg of elections would cause “irreparable loss and prejudice” to him and his party since his seat goes to polls on April 6. The Commission accepted his apology and halved the ban.

When electronic voting machine was first used in India?

• An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is an electronic device used for recording votes. EVMs came as a replacement to ballot papers and was first used in No. 70 Parvur assembly constituency in Kerala in 1982.
• An EVM comprises of a control unit which is placed with the polling officer and a balloting unit which is placed inside the voting compartment.
• EVM's run on normal battery and they do not require electricity. An EVM can be used to record a maximum of 2,000 votes. If an EVM stops working it is replaced with a new one and votes recorded until that time are safe in the memory of the control unit. The control unit can store the result in its memory until the data is deleted or cleared. Changing of the paper roll is strictly prohibited at polling stations.
• The arrangement of names of candidates in the ballot paper is in alphabetical order, first candidates from national political parties figure and then from other state registered parties. EVM's are given to the polling station in two stages of randomization by the EVM tracking software produced by the commission.

Advantages of EVM-

• Voting by EVM's has made the process simpler as one does not need to mark a ballot paper and put it in the ballot box. In an EVM, the voter has to just press the blue button against the candidate and symbol of his choice and the vote gets recorded.
• The scope of invalid votes is eliminated which could not be possible in the paper ballot system.
• The counting process is very quick and the result can be declared in hours as opposed to days.
• There is no need for printing millions of ballot papers. This leads to saving of money on account of paper, printing, transportation, storage and distribution.
• There are both audio and visual indications for the voter to be assured that his vote has been recorded correctly. As soon as a voter presses the blue button, the lamp against the symbol of his chosen candidate glows red and a long beep is heard.

Where it was mentioned that voter can claim the vote cast is incorrect?

• As per the provisions of Rule 49MA of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, the presiding officer can obtain a written declaration from the voter if they claim that the vote cast is incorrect. If the voter gives the written declaration referred to in sub-rule (1) of Rule 49MA, the presiding officer can permit the elector to record a test vote in the voting machine in his presence and see the paper slip is generated.
• If the claim is found to be true, the presiding officer will report quickly to the returning officer, stop further casting of votes in that voting machine and act as per the guidelines are given by the returning officer.
• The technical experts committee of the Election Commission in collaboration with two PSU's is in charge of devising and designing the EVM's.
• Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) also plays an imperative role in voting. VVPAT is another independent machine attached to the EVM which helps the voter verify the vote. After casting the vote, a slip is printed which contains the serial number, name, and symbol of the candidate and is visible through a window for seven seconds. Post this, the printed slip automatically falls in the sealed drop box of the VVPAT.

Who decides the protocol for the transportation and randomisation  of the EVMs?

• The Commission’s transport protocol for polled and reserve EVMs dictates that the voting machines, under no circumstances, should be taken in private custody or a private place. And also, that all EVMs, after voting is complete, should be under cover of armed police at all times. So the polling party’s decision to hitch a ride in a private vehicle amounted to taking the EVM (used in Polling Station 149 of Ratabari seat) and hence was a violation of the EC’s rules.
• Precautions are taken in a two-stage randomisation process before EVMs are put to use. The idea is to ensure nobody knows in advance which EVMs will be allotted to a constituency/polling station.
• For this, serial numbers of all EVMs under the jurisdiction of a district election officer are listed. EVMs for a given constituency are then randomly selected through a computerised process known as first-level randomisation. A second-level randomisation by the returning officer later selects the EVMs at a given polling station.

How often do such mistakes happen?

• Such slip-ups are not new. Lately, there have been quite a few in different Assembly elections. It’s difficult to say whether these mistakes have increased or are being noticed easily because of social media’s reach. The most prominent incident took place on November 27, 2018 during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, when four election officers took EVMs to a hotel against EC’s directions. The four officers were replaced immediately, but no repoll was ordered since the machines in question were part of the reserve stock and were not used for voting in the state.
• The same year during the Rajasthan Assembly elections, the EC removed of returning officer of Pali after an EVM was reportedly found at the home of a BJP candidate. In another incident, EC suspended two officials after a sealed voting machine was found on the road in Rajasthan’s Baran district. The machine was part of the reserve stock.
• Only engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited conduct checking of EVMs and VVPATs.