Can EVMs in India be blown up like Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon? Election Commission answers

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday answered a query raised by the opposition Congress regarding the credibility and security of electronic voting machines (EVMs): If pagers can be exploded, then why can't EVMs be hacked? The chief election commissioner answered this question in one line: "Pagers are connected, but EVMs are not connected."

The Election Commission has maintained that the EVMS – used for voting in elections in India – cannot be hacked or tampered with as they are not connected to any device. They don't even need electricity to work.

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Congress leader Rashid Alvi cast doubts on the EVMs, asking, “If Israel can allegedly target individuals using pagers and walkie-talkies, what does that imply for the security of EVMs?”

Dismissing the claims of EVM hacking yet again, CEC Rajiv Kumar pointed out that EVMs are not connected to any device and thus cannot be hacked. But pagers can be tampered with as they are connected.

EVMs vs pagers

Pagers, also known as beepers, are communication devices used to receive and display short messages or alerts. They operate on radio frequencies and can alert users through audible tones, vibrations, or visual displays. 

Pagers are connected to a paging network. According to a report, wireless pagers use a special code that the whole wireless paging system understands.

However, EVMs run on an ordinary 7.5-volt alkaline power pack (manufactured using 5 AA-size cells of 1.5 volts each) supplied by Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bangalore and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd, Hyderabad.

An EVM consists of two units – a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit. It enables the voter to cast his vote by pressing the ‘Candidate’ button (blue button) on the Balloting Unit against the candidate and symbol of his choice.

"The EVM is both mechanically and electronically protected to prevent any tampering/manipulation. The programme (software) used in these EVM is burnt into a One Time Programmable/Masked chip (Hardware) so that it cannot be altered or tampered with," the Election Commission explained in its documents.

Moreover, these EVMs are not linked, either by wire or by wireless system, to any other machine or system. Therefore, there is no possibility of manipulation of data, the Election Commission said.

Pager explosions in Lebanon

The Election Commission's statement came weeks after thousands of pagers and other devices exploded in Lebanon. These pagers reportedly belonged to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In an apparently coordinated attack, the Gold Apollo branded devices had detonated in September across Hezbollah's strongholds in south Lebanon, Beirut's suburbs and the eastern Bekaa valley.

A day later, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded. The consecutive attacks killed 37 people, including at least two children, and injured more than 3,000 people. Lebanon and Hezbollah said Israel was behind the attacks. "Israel's secretive military intelligence Unit 8200 was involved in the planning," a Western security source had told Reuters.