BENGALURU: Chief Electtoral Officer, Karnataka, Sanjiv Kumar on Friday asserted that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPAT devices cannot be tampered with, hacked or manipulated.At a workshop for mediapersons, Kumar referred to the Supreme Court also turning down demands from some political parties against these devices. He said the machines manufactured by BEL are scrutinised closely. "There’s a standard operating procedure and once these machines are sent to district election officers, they go through various security measures. These machines are equipped with multi-digital identification numbers and if somebody tries to tamper with them, messages are sent to the central office. All machines are tracked through GPS," he added.Kumar said three mock polls are conducted before polling day. If the machines are malfunctioning, they’re discarded. Another mock poll is conducted to ensure they’re working properly. He said no district officer or candidate will be aware which machine is sent to which assembly segment. Candidates won’t be aware which serial number will be given to them in the machine. The machines are Braille-enabled to help the visually impaired.He said VVPAT has been of immense help in nailing allegations that EVMs can be tampered with. "Casting a vote requires 20 seconds and around 180 people can vote in an hour. The voter can verify to whom he has voted for seven seconds on the VVPAT screen. It helps in recounting of votes. The thermal paper used in VVPAT can be stored for five years,” he added.

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