Attacking the Election Commission for not paying heed to complaints regarding electronic voting machines (EVMs), Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that the EVMs could be easily tampered and were therefore not reliable.

Speaking at the launch of the book “Democracy at Risk”, authored by psephologist and a national executive member of the BJP, G V L Narasimha Rao, Gadkari said, “Election Commission is not in a mood to hear mood despite opposition from different parties.” He added that even the Congress Party in Orissa has reservations regarding the use of EVMs.

“Discussion on EVMs can only make the democracy stronger. We need to debate this issue and not politicise it,” Gadkari said, “By triggering a debate on the reliability of EVMs, do not think that the BJP is against modernisation of the system or EVMs, only that we want paper back-up in elections. If you  take three months time to prepare for elections why not give another three days for counting.”

Rao, in his book, has detailed how EVMs can be tampered easily. Rao also criticised the EC, saying, “The Election Commission has been stoutly resisting any serious examination of the issue let alone considering possible solutions and reforms.”

Rao said that elections cannot be based on trust but should be based on evidence. “It is a blatant lie that EVMs are tamper-proof. I think the use of EVMs on a national scale is illegal,” said Rao.

In his book, Rao has cited examples of countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland which have gone back to paper ballots. Rao said EVMs in those countries were better than India but still they discarded it. 

Stressing on the need for transparency, Rop Gonggrijp, a computer hacker from the Netherlands said, “If the underlying voting process is not transparent, how can an election be transparent.” He said the Indian machines are extremely simple to hack.

“EVM is not a foolproof system,” said Till Jaeger, attorney from Germany who argued the landmark case that led to banning of electronic voting there.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani had called for a review of the EVMs after his party’s defeat in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. However, the election commission, following a detailed examination, had pronounced the EVMs reliable on August 8 2009, saying it was “satisfied with the non-tamperability” of the EVMs.