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In view of the abovementioned provisions of law the voting by way of EVMs, without the e-receipt or paper receipt appears to be not in tune with the Representation of People Act 1951, Conduct of Elections Rules 1961, Information & Technology Act 2000 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and above all the against the democracy. Moreover when a voter votes according to his or her wish on EVM, the result is that he hears a beep and a flash of light but what has happened to data which he has sent, is not known. In similar transactions like ATMs or Credit Cards the paper receipt is the evidence of the electronic transaction.
Testimony of David L. Dill (Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University) before the Commission on Federal Election Reform (Carter-Baker Commission), on April 18, 2005 hearing, at American University, Washington D.C.
"The real job of an election is not to convince the winners that they won, but to convince the losers that they lost. So, it is not sufficient that election results be accurate; the public must know that the results are accurate. That can only be achieved by making election processes as transparent as possible.
Hence in my opinion, based on relevant laws, the EVMs without e-receipt or paper receipt or voter verifiable trail are not fully trust worthy, as per prevalent laws and needs to be given a fresh look in order to make the election process completely transparent. At present, the voter only comes across a beep and a flash of light, but what has happened in the machine or to the data which he or she has sent, is not known. This receipt can be similar to that of ATM receipt, which is issued even for a 100/- rupees transaction, to provide evidence to the particular electronic transaction. The receipts generated by the EVMs can be then, put into the sealed box kept over there and remain with Election Commission of India, so that in case of audit or disputes, the box can be opened, counting can be done and the results can be compared with the EVMs.
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