Controversy over EVM across the world, banned in Bangladesh, Japan, Germany, know the reason

New Delhi. There is controversy and concern all over the world regarding Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Political debate continues in India regarding the use of EVM, while countries like Bangladesh, Japan, Germany and Netherlands have banned it. Know here in which countries EVM was banned and what were the reasons behind it.

Bangladesh used EVM in the 2018 general elections, but opposition parties, especially the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), made serious allegations of misuse of EVM. After this, the use of traditional ballot box was started from the 2023 general elections. Because of this, the budget of 8,711 crore taka to buy new EVM was also rejected. Its only purpose was to ensure transparency and reliability in the election process.

Ban on the use of EVM machines in Japan
Japan, one of the most powerful countries in Asia, has also banned the use of EVM machines since 2018. There too, questions were raised on the security and transparency of EVMs. Where the court found that there is a possibility of tampering with EVMs. Due to this, its use was stopped after the municipal elections. Germany even declared EVMs unconstitutional. On this, 15 years ago, i.e. in 2009, the German court had declared EVMs unconstitutional. While hearing the case, the court had said that due to EVMs, there has been a lack of transparency in the voting process. The system is opaque for common citizens. With its help, the election results can be manipulated, after which the use of ballot boxes was approved.

Ban on EVMs in European countries
In the European country Netherlands too, a ban on EVMs is in force due to security flaws. In 2006, the group “We Do Not Trust Voting Computers” exposed the security flaws of Nedap/Gronendaal EVM, which found that tampering of EVM is possible. There is a possibility of influencing the election results with its help. After this, EVM was banned by the court order in 2007 and the use of paper ballots was started. Apart from this, the use of EVM has been completely banned in Ireland and Italy in 2010.

Know what is the situation of Pakistan?
On one hand, many countries have banned the use of EVM. On the other hand, India’s neighboring country Pakistan is considering its use. For this, Pakistan has developed a prototype EVM and is considering the possibility of conducting elections through it. However, no concrete decision has been taken yet. On the other hand, EVM is being used on a large scale in India, but Congress and some other political parties are preparing for a big movement raising questions on its transparency. This debate is becoming more intense in the context of international events.