16/10/2015
New Multi-Post Electronic Voting Machines for District, Block and Village Panchayat Elections
New multi-post electronic voting machines are ready for the election. The confidence in the new voting machine is like the confidence of a candidate who has ensured his victory even before the election. The multi-post electronic voting machine, using which a voter can cast three votes at a time, has undergone all technical inspections and is ready for the election. The machine consists of one control unit and three ballot units. These machines will be used in district, block and village panchayat elections. In municipal and corporation elections, the machines used in Lok Sabha elections will be used.
Multi-post system
Three votes can be recorded in one machine with one control unit and three ballot units. Four main parts control the way the machine works: the display unit, the candidate section, the result section and the ballot section. It does not need direct power supply to work. It has a separate battery pack. It is made by the Electronics Corporation of India.
Mode of operation
When the presiding officer, who is in charge of the polling station, presses the ballot button on the control unit, green lights on ballot units will be lit and the unit will be ready for voting. District, block and village panchayat ballots will be arranged on the three ballot units. The person casting the vote must press the button next to his preferred candidate’s name on these ballot units one after the other. If a person does not want to cast all three votes, after casting the vote he wants to, he must complete voting by pressing the end button. First vote can be cast on any ballot.
Many features
The machines will modernise the process of voting. Even visually challenged and illiterate people can use it easily. It is not difficult to connect and disconnect parts of this machine and to operate it. It will help to prevent invalid votes and fraudulent voting, and will save time. The cost of printing, transporting and safeguarding ballot papers can be avoided by using these machines.
Preventing fraud
The machine has been designed to prevent fraud during voting. Complete ballot information will be recorded in the machines three days before the date of polling. After checking all machines for effectiveness, they will be sealed with pink paper before sending them to polling stations. A mock poll will be held one hour before voting to ensure that the machine is working properly. After conveying the outcome to the candidates, the machines will be sealed again. Then actual voting will take place. After that, the machines will be moved to the treasury. Once the results are announced, memory modules will be removed from the machines and locked up.
