EVM battery like that of a calculator: Poll body junks Congress’s charge

The Election Commission on Tuesday said the battery of an EVM was like that of a calculator and dismissed claims that the machines could be tampered with like pagers. The Election Commission’s clarification came after the Congress pointed out that varying EVM battery levels across different polling stations in Haryana might have impacted the poll results.
Announcing the poll schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar defended the use of EVMs, saying they were “absolutely safe and robust”. He also pointed out the different results over the past 15–20 elections, emphasising that it does not imply faults with the machines but rather reflects the voters’ choices.
“EVMs have a single-use battery like a calculator battery and not a mobile battery,” Rajiv Kumar said.
He also rejected claims by Congress leader Rashid Alvi that EVMs could be rigged just like Israel hacked pagers of terrorist outfit Hezbollah. “Pagers are connected, but EVMs are not,” he said.
The CEC said EVMs had three-layered security, including the batteries. “The first-level checking of EVMs begins 5–6 months before polling takes place. An EVM is commissioned 5–6 days before voting takes place. A new battery is inserted that day,” Rajiv Kumar said.
After the machine is sealed, agents of political parties sign off the EVM and the battery as well, he said. “The EVMs are then transported to the strong rooms and are double-locked in front of the agents. The whole process is videographed,” the Election Commissioner said.
After the Haryana poll results were announced on October 8, in which the BJP returned to power, the Congress alleged its candidates lost in seats where EVMs had a 99% battery charge while those with a charge of 60-70% showed a victory for the party. In its complaint to the EC, the Congress submitted a list of 20 constituencies that showed such a trend.
According to the ECI, the control unit (CU) of the EVM has a power pack of 7.5 volts or 8 volts. EVMs run on alkaline batteries so they can be used in areas that do not have electricity.
Responding to the Congress’s claim, Rajiv Kumar said the display unit of the EVM shows “99%” charge till the time the electric potential of the battery is between 7.4 volts and 8 volts.
Once the level falls below 7.4 volts, the actual percentage of the charge is displayed. Kumar said the display unit shows an indication to change the battery when the battery reaches 5.8 volts.
He said the battery lasts depending on the usage like how many votes are cast during the mock poll, how many times the votes are totaled, and the number of votes cast during the poll.