NEW DELHI – The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday said that the country’s electronic voting machines (EVMs) are standalone, tamper-proof devices not connected to the Internet or any wireless networks, amid fresh global concerns over the security of electronic voting systems.
The statement comes after U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard raised concerns about vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems, calling for a return to paper ballots to protect electoral integrity.
In response, Indian election authorities said that unlike systems in some countries that use complex electronic voting infrastructure over private networks, Indian EVMs function like “simple, correct and accurate calculators,” which cannot be linked to the Internet, Wi-Fi, or Infrared.
“Counting of any number of votes—even 100 crore—can be completed in less than one day, and no one, whosoever, can tamper with these machines,” an ECI official said, adding that the machines are either stored in strong rooms or kept under authorized supervision at all times.
India, with nearly 1 billion registered voters, uses a combination of EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips to allow voters to verify their choices. Over five crore paper trail slips have been verified during counting in front of political party representatives, the Commission said.
Gabbard had said on Thursday that U.S. authorities had uncovered evidence of long-standing vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems and advocated for the nationwide use of paper ballots to restore voter trust.
The ECI emphasized that Indian EVMs have been upheld by the Supreme Court and are subject to checks by political parties, including mock polls before voting begins.
The issue of EVM reliability has long been debated in India, with opposition parties, including the Congress, calling for a return to paper ballots. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said at a party session last year that several developed countries had moved away from EVMs due to technological concerns.
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk also weighed in on the global debate in 2024, calling for the elimination of EVMs amid hacking risks. Then Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar responded by noting that the U.S. does not use standalone EVMs like India but rather electronic voting systems connected to networks.
Despite repeated concerns from political opponents, the Election Commission maintains that India’s EVMs remain secure, transparent, and efficient.
