Fact Check: ‘EVM came in 2009 and was installed by the Congress government’, know the truth of this viral post

New Delhi: So far, four phases of voting have taken place in the 2024 election battle. Three phases of elections are yet to be held. The seventh and last phase of voting will take place on June 1, then the result will be declared on June 4. Preparations regarding this are progressing rapidly. However, amid the Lok Sabha elections, a shocking claim is being made about EVMs. In a post going viral on social media, it is being claimed that EVMs were used in the country in 2009 during the then Congress Party led government. It was also said in the viral post that if EVMs were hacked, Congress would have done it first. However, investigation found that this post viral on social media is fake. There is no truth in this.

Vishvas News in its investigation found this claim to be misleading. The Lok Sabha elections held in 2004 were also conducted with the help of EVMs. Earlier, electronic voting machines were also being used during many assembly elections. In 2001, EVMs were used in all seats during the Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal assembly elections. Even before this, EVMs were being used in a phased manner during the assembly elections of different states, which started in 1998 with the elections on 16 assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

What is viral post?

Social media user ‘rbsonu_sr’ went viral Post (archive LinkWhile sharing ) it is written, ‘EVM came in 2009 and was installed by the Congress government, if EVMs were hacked then Congress would have done it first… and would never have allowed BJP to come to power… EVMs are not hacked. Understand this..!!’

investigation

To verify the claim made in the viral post regarding the use of EVMs, we checked the documents available on the Election Commission website. During search, we found a copy of Status Paper on EVM (Edition – 3), in which step by step information about the use of EVM has been given.

According to available information, after a consensus was reached in 1998 to conduct elections using EVM, it was used in the elections to be held on 16 assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

After this, in 1999 it was used on 46 parliamentary seats and then during the Haryana Assembly elections, voting was done through EVMs on 45 seats.

In 2001, the assembly elections of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal were conducted entirely using EVMs and it was used in other subsequent assembly elections as well.

2004 Lok Sabha election

During the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, EVMs were used for voting on all 543 seats. According to this document made public in 2018, ‘Since 2000, EVMs have been used during voting in a total of 113 state assembly elections and three general elections (2004, 2009 and 2014) in India.’

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections were also conducted entirely through EVMs. Therefore, the claim made in the viral post that the use of EVMs started from 2009 is wrong.

On 19 May 1982, the Election Commission of India issued guidelines under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution to use EVMs in 50 polling stations in the 70-Parur Assembly constituency of Kerala on an experimental basis. After this, EVMs were also used in 10 by-elections in 1982-83. However, due to the absence of any definite law, these elections were challenged in the Supreme Court (Election Petition 01 of 1982 filed by AC Jose) and on March 5, 1984, the Supreme Court said in its decision that without any definite legal provision EVMs cannot be used in elections.

After this, in December 1988, the Parliament amended the law and added Section 61A to the Representation of the People Act 1951 and thus the Election Commission got permission to use EVMs. This amendment came into effect on 15 March 1989 and subsequently the Supreme Court declared Section 61A constitutionally valid in the case AIDMK vs. Chief Election Commissioner and others (2002 UJ (1) 387).

Details of legal interference and lawsuits regarding EVMs can be seen in the following chart.

Regarding the viral post, Vishvas News contacted the spokesperson of the Central Election Commission and he/she confirmed that in the 2004 general elections, voting was done through EVMs in all the Lok Sabha seats and before that, EVMs had been used in other assembly elections. .

In 2018, the Supreme Court has rejected the petition filed in the country demanding elections to be conducted through ballot paper instead of EVMs.

Published in Economic Times on 22 November 2018 News According to, ‘The Supreme Court rejected the petition to use ballot paper instead of EVM in the upcoming assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections. The court said that no system is perfect. This PIL was filed in the court by A Subba Rao on behalf of NGO Nyaya Bhoomi. he/she had said that EVMs can be misused and hence should not be used during elections.

After this order of the Supreme Court, the 2019 general elections were held using EVMs only. Fact check reports of other viral claims related to EVMs here read May go.

those sharing the viral post user About five thousand people follow him/her on Instagram. Election Commission Notification (archive) LinkAccording to ), four phases of voting have taken place so far under the Lok Sabha elections and the fifth phase of voting is to be held on May 20, in which voting will be held on a total of 49 seats in eight states and union territories.

conclusion

In the investigation of Vishvas News, the claim of EVMs coming into existence since 2009 is false. In 2004, elections were conducted with the help of EVMs in all 543 Lok Sabha seats of the country and before that it was being used during many assembly elections. In 2001, EVMs were used in all seats during the Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal assembly elections. Even before this, EVMs were being used in a phased manner during the assembly elections of different states, which started in 1998 with the elections on 16 assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. The general elections of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 were also conducted using EVMs and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are also being conducted using EVMs.

(This story was originally published Vishvas NewsAnd republished by NBT as part of Shakti Collective.)