The Election Commission on Tuesday said the EVM battery is like a calculator and rejected claims that the machines could be tampered with like a pager. The clarification came after the Congress pointed out that different battery levels of EVMs at different polling stations in Haryana could affect the election results.

Announcing the polling schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar defended the use of EVMs, saying they are "absolutely safe and robust". He also pointed to the varying results in the last 15-20 elections and stressed that this does not mean there is any fault in the machines but rather reflects the choice of the voters.

'EVMs have single-use batteries like calculator batteries, not mobile batteries'

Rajiv Kumar said, 'EVMs have single-use batteries like calculator batteries, not mobile batteries.' He also rejected Congress leader Rashid Alvi's claim that EVMs can be tampered with, just like Israel hacked the pagers of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. He said, 'Pagers are connected, but not EVMs.'

'The entire process is videotaped'

The CEC said EVMs have three-level security including batteries. "The first-level checking of EVMs begins 5-6 months before polling. The EVM is switched on 5-6 days before polling. A new battery is inserted on that day," Rajiv Kumar said.

He said that after sealing the machine, agents of political parties sign on the EVMs and batteries. "The EVMs are then taken to the strong room and double-locked in front of the agents. The entire process is videographed," the election commissioner said.

In its complaint, Congress submitted a list of 20 constituencies.

After the results of the Haryana elections were declared on October 8, in which the BJP returned to power, the Congress alleged that its candidates lost in seats where the EVM batteries were 99% charged, while the party was shown winning in seats with 60-70% charge. In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress submitted a list of 20 constituencies where such a trend was seen.

According to the Election Commission, the Control Unit (CU) of the EVMs has a power pack of 7.5 volts or 8 volts. The EVMs run on alkaline batteries, so they can be used in areas where there is no electricity.

'Once the level drops below 7.4 volts, the actual percentage of charge is displayed'

Responding to the Congress claim, Rajiv Kumar said the EVM's display unit shows a "99%" charge as long as the battery's electrical capacity is between 7.4 volts and 8 volts. Once the level goes below 7.4 volts, the actual percentage of charge is displayed. Kumar said the display unit shows an indication for battery replacement when the battery reaches 5.8 volts. He said the battery runs out depending on usage, such as how many votes were cast during the mock poll, how many times the votes were totaled, and how many votes were polled during the poll.