Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Overkill: On only a 100% recount of VVPATs

Overkill: On only a 100% recount of VVPATs

Verification of a statistically significant sample of VVPAT slips should suffice

The introduction and use of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), an adjunct (सहायक) system attached to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), and the provision of counting VVPAT tallies from five random polling booths in every Assembly constituency to be matched with the EVM vote-count, have not assuaged (शांत करना, कम करना) critics of the use of EVMs in Indian elections. Some suggest the fact that the process could be more transparent if a machine audit trail of all the commands that are executed is maintained in the system, beyond just the votes recorded in the EVM’s ballot unit and the printed slips in the VVPATs, allowing for an audit to rule out any malicious (दुर्भावनापूर्ण) code. This could indeed make the system more robust (मज़बूत) and be considered as an upgrade to the existing machines. Others suggest that the use of VVPATs has introduced potential vulnerabilities (कमजोर, नाजुकपन) that did not exist with the standalone nature of EVMs and the technical and administrative safeguards that undergirded the legacy system. This too could be addressed by reworking the safeguards to ensure that the VVPAT-combined systems are as secure and foolproof as the standalone EVMs were. But incomprehensible is the critique (आलोचना, समीक्षा) from many, including political parties such as the Congress, that only a 100% recount of all VVPATs would suffice, instead of the current method of sampling the number of recounts, in order to have full transparency. The Supreme Court of India has now listed a series of petitions (याचिका) related to this demand.

Despite Cassandra-like pronouncements about malpractices and EVM-hacking, there has been no proof of any actual tampering of EVMs so far. While EVMs, as any machine is bound to, have suffered glitches (गड़बड़), and promptly been replaced in the event of machine failures, the critique (A detailed analysis or assessment of something, typically a literary or artistic work) that they are prone to hacking or manipulation despite the existing technical and administrative safeguards has not been made with any actual proof. The sample counting of VVPATs, across both the general election in 2019 and several other Assembly elections for instance, which allow the voter to confirm whether the mandate matches the choice made on the EVM, have shown that the mismatch between the VVPAT recount and the EVM count has been minuscule (बहुत सूक्ष्म, अल्प) — an outcome of trivial (मामूली, साधारण) errors such as non-deletion of mock polls in the machine before the voting process or errors in manual recording of the final count from the machine. An increase in the recount sample to make it more statistically significant, by making the selected number of Assemblies specific to each State/Union Territory based on the size of the province, or, simply to increase the recount sample in seats where the margin of victory is narrow (say, less than 1% of the overall votes) could be solutions. But to insist on a full recount seems an overkill and a clear lack of trust in the EVM itself.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Adjunct (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - सहायक
English Meaning - Something added to another thing but not essential to it.

2.Critique (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - आलोचना, समीक्षा
English Meaning - A detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a literary, philosophical, or political work.

3.Petitions (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - याचिका
English Meaning - A formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause.

4.Glitch (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - गड़बड़
English Meaning - Minor, temporary malfunctions or irregularities in a system or operation.

5.Trivial (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मामूली, साधारण
English Meaning - Something of little value or importance.

6.Minuscule (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बहुत सूक्ष्म, अल्प
English Meaning - Something extremely small in size, amount, or degree.

7.Robust (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मज़बूत
English Meaning - strong, healthy, and vigorous.

8.Malicious (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दुर्भावनापूर्ण
English Meaning - Having or showing a desire to cause harm to someone.

9.Assuaged (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - शांत करना, कम करना
English Meaning - To make an unpleasant feeling less strong.

10.Vulnerabilities (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - कमजोर, नाजुकपन
English Meaning - The quality of being easily hurt or attacked.

11.Critique (Noun)

English Meaning - A detailed analysis or assessment of something, typically a literary or artistic work.