Update manifesto: Ensure the VVPATS will be counted in case of doubts

Pirate Praveen Public Seen by 24

Our manifesto currently state "To restore trust in election process, we will ensure that:

a) All Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will have a Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (a receipt printed by the EVM which can be put into a ballot box).

b) We will go back to paper ballots."

At that time, we assumed VVPATS will be counted in case of doubts, but that does not seem to be the case with Election Commission refusing to count any realistic percentage of votes. So we need to decide how much percentage of VVPATS will be counted by default and setup a process by which other candidates can ask for a full count.

Pirate Praveen Sun 2 May 2021 1:39PM

It is not about whether a single election is rigged or not based on who won or lost, but making sure there is no doubt in the election process and for that we need to have ways of verifying the integrity. The VVPATS are a good idea, but currently they are just for namesake and not really used. May be we should randomly count 10% of all VVPATS and more than that if others ask for a recount. We could even after people to pay an amount for asking for VVPAT counting to discourage people from asking without limits.

Pirate Praveen Sun 2 May 2021 1:41PM

and just the possibility that any rigging will be found out when VVPATS are counted will act as a deterrant to rig EVMs

Pirate Praveen Sun 2 May 2021 1:50PM

We can also explain why EVMs are inherently untrustworthy. 1. They are controlled by software and the person writing the software can put back doors that can be triggered in specific cases and hard to detect during tests. "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results. The German car giant has since admitted cheating emissions tests in the US." https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772 2. Even if we can audit the software used, how can we verify the software running on these machines actually match the source code released? 3. Any party which can rig elections may not rig it in obvious ways to avoid doubts. Just because a party lost an election does not prove the machines cannot be rigged.

Pirate Praveen Sun 2 May 2021 1:53PM

So only by verifying independantly we can prove the machines are not rigged - not just for one election, but for every election.

Poll Created Mon 3 May 2021 12:41PM

Update manifesto: Ensure the VVPATS will be counted in case of doubts Closed Mon 17 May 2021 12:00PM

Add this to point a, "calculate and tally EVM votes with VVPATs.

"To restore trust in election process, we will ensure that:

a) All Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will have a Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (a receipt printed by the EVM which can be put into a ballot box). VVPATs will be counted and EVM votes will be compared with VVPATs to ensure they are the same. Minimum percentage of VVPATs required to verify integrity of results will be decided in consultation with statisticians. If the margin of victory is less than 2% then 100% VVPATs should be counted. Candidates will be allowed to choose a limited number of random booths that need to be verified. In case of any mismatch between the votes displayed by EVM and VVPAT is detected, a re-poll will be conducted to uphold integrity of the voting process.

b) We will go back to paper ballots."

Update: Added suggestion by @Pirate Bady "candidates may also be allowed to choose a limited number of random booths that need to be verified"