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A standalone, non-networked machine used by the Election Commission of India to record and count votes electronically instead of on paper ballots.
An Electronic Voting Machine is a portable, microcontroller-based device used to record votes electronically in Indian elections in place of paper ballots. It consists of a Ballot Unit, which the voter operates, and a Control Unit, which the polling officer operates, connected by a cable. EVMs were developed for the Election Commission of India by its Technical Experts Committee together with Bharat Electronics Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, under the Department of Atomic Energy. The machines run on their own battery power, so they can be used at polling stations without an electricity supply, and they are deliberately built as standalone devices with no network connectivity.
Type: ProcessTwo-part design — a Ballot Unit where the voter presses the blue button against a candidate's name and symbol, and a Control Unit operated by the polling officer who first activates the ballot
Standalone architecture — EVMs are not connected to any wired or wireless network and do not run an operating system, which rules out remote access
One-time programmable chips — the machines use masked or one-time programmable microchips that cannot be read, rewritten or reprogrammed after manufacturing
Battery operated — they need no mains electricity, which makes them usable in remote and power-deficient polling stations
Vote capacity — a single EVM can record up to 2,000 votes
Candidate capacity — each Ballot Unit accommodates 16 candidates including NOTA, and Ballot Units can be linked in series where a constituency has more candidates
Control features — a TOTAL button displays the total votes polled without revealing candidate-wise results, and once the CLOSE button is pressed no further voting is possible
Frequency: EVMs and VVPAT recur regularly in Prelims polity questions and in general awareness papers, especially in election years
India's move to electronic voting was gradual, spread over two decades from a single constituency trial to nationwide use, with each step backed by a change in law or an expansion in scope.
EVMs used for the first time in India, in 50 polling stations of the Paravur Assembly constituency, Kerala
Parliament amends the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to insert Section 61A empowering the Election Commission to use voting machines
Section 61A comes into force, giving EVMs their statutory basis
The Election Commission progressively expands EVM use across constituencies
All state elections and by-elections are conducted using EVMs
EVMs become the standard voting system nationwide from the Lok Sabha elections
VVPAT is used for the first time, in the bye-election to the 51-Noksen Assembly constituency of Nagaland
The M3 generation of EVMs is introduced
VVPAT is deployed across all constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections
The Supreme Court declines to order 100 per cent EVM-VVPAT cross-verification, but permits a burnt-memory check of 5 per cent of EVMs per Assembly constituency
Voting on an EVM is a two-person sequence: nothing can be recorded on the Ballot Unit until the polling officer releases the ballot from the Control Unit, which is what prevents repeat voting.
Step 1: The voter's identity is verified and the polling officer presses the ballot button on the Control Unit, activating a single vote on the Ballot Unit
Step 2: The voter goes to the Ballot Unit and presses the blue button against the chosen candidate's name and symbol, or against NOTA
Step 3: The VVPAT printer produces a paper slip showing the serial number, candidate name and symbol, visible through a transparent window for about seven seconds
Step 4: The slip drops automatically into a sealed box, which only authorised polling officials can access; the slips are preserved for verification if legally required
Step 5: At the close of poll the CLOSE button is pressed, after which no further vote can be recorded; the TOTAL button shows only the aggregate votes polled, not candidate-wise results
Step 6: On counting day the Control Unit displays candidate-wise totals, and mandated VVPAT slip counts are tallied against the electronic count
An electronic count is fast and hard to tamper with, but it is also invisible — the voter cannot see what the machine recorded. VVPAT closes that gap by attaching a printer to the EVM that produces a paper slip showing the candidate the voter actually chose. The slip stays visible behind glass for about seven seconds and then falls into a sealed box; the voter verifies but never handles it, which preserves ballot secrecy while creating a physical record that can be counted independently of the machine. The design therefore gives the system two separate records of the same vote — one electronic and one on paper — so that a discrepancy between them would be detectable. In April 2024 the Supreme Court declined to require that every slip be counted, holding instead that the burnt memory microcontroller of 5 per cent of EVMs per Assembly constituency may be checked by the manufacturer's engineers after results, on a written request from the candidates placed second and third.
It works like a card machine that prints a receipt you can read through a glass window before it drops into a locked box — you can confirm the amount, but you cannot take the receipt home.
Section 61A, Representation of the People Act, 1951
The statutory basis for EVMs. It empowers the Election Commission to adopt the giving and recording of votes by voting machines in such constituencies as it may specify, and provides that references to a ballot box or ballot paper are to be read as including a voting machine wherever one is used
Amendment of December 1988
Parliament inserted Section 61A through this amendment, which came into force on 15 March 1989 — the point at which EVMs acquired legal sanction rather than merely experimental status
Election Commission of India
Conducts elections and decides where voting machines are used; its Technical Experts Committee guided EVM design
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
One of the two manufacturers of EVMs
Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL)
The other EVM manufacturer; it built the prototype used in the 1982 Kerala trial
First used in India: May 1982, Paravur Assembly constituency, Kerala, in 50 polling stations
Manufacturers: BEL (Ministry of Defence) and ECIL (Department of Atomic Energy)
Legal basis: Section 61A, Representation of the People Act, 1951, in force from 15 March 1989
Nationwide standard from the 2004 Lok Sabha elections
Composition: Ballot Unit + Control Unit, with VVPAT added in the M3 generation introduced in 2013
Capacity: up to 2,000 votes per machine; 16 candidates including NOTA per Ballot Unit
VVPAT: first used September 2013 at Noksen, Nagaland; used in all constituencies in 2019
VVPAT slip visible for about seven seconds before dropping into a sealed box
Supreme Court, April 2024: no 100 per cent VVPAT count; burnt-memory check of 5 per cent of EVMs per Assembly constituency on request
EVMs were used for the first time in May 1982 in 50 polling stations of the Paravur Assembly constituency in Kerala, using a prototype developed by ECIL.
Section 61A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, inserted by an amendment passed in December 1988 and brought into force on 15 March 1989.
Bharat Electronics Limited, under the Ministry of Defence, and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, under the Department of Atomic Energy.
Indian EVMs are standalone devices with no wired or wireless network connectivity and no operating system, and they use one-time programmable chips that cannot be reprogrammed after manufacture, which is the design basis for ruling out remote access.
In April 2024 the Court declined to order 100 per cent cross-verification of EVM counts with VVPAT slips, but allowed the burnt memory microcontroller of 5 per cent of EVMs per Assembly constituency to be checked by manufacturer engineers on a written request from the second and third placed candidates.