Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Friday, 26 April 2024

VVPAT : a ball that bounced back as EV-PAT

 


 

25 April 2024 :

 

I threw the balls in the court of the Supreme Court , as :

Dear Supreme Court : If you cannot Order, at least “ Ask – Guide –Direct

I urged that Supreme Court ask Election Commission to implement my following suggestions :


VPAT ? How about EVBAT ?   …………. …………………………………28 Mar 2019

Ø      100 % verification of VVPAT ? No problem ! .. ………………….02 Apr 2019

Ø  Votes Audit : Paper gives 99.9936% / Electronic gives 100 %.. ….18 Mar 2024


 26 April 2024 :

Supreme court picked up the ball and threw it in the court of Election Commission while giving its verdict

Source :

SC thumbs-up for EVMs, declines plea to revive paper ballot

Extract :

The court suggested to the Election Commission (EC) to explore the possibility of devising an electronic machine” to count the VVPAT paper slips.

This direction may have been prompted by an affidavit submitted by the EC during the hearing of the case. The poll body had explained that it takes an hour to manually count the VVPAT slips of a single polling station.

“On an average, 1000 VVPAT slips are required to be counted per polling station… The small size and special nature of the paper makes the slips sticky. Manual counting of VVPAT slips is cumbersome at every step. The process cannot be expedited or hurried,” it had said.

SC rejects pleas seeking 100% verification of EVM votes with VVPAT slips

 

Extract :

During the course of hearing, it was suggested that instead of physically counting VVPAT slips, they could be counted by a counting machine

The court said that this suggestion, including the suggestion that barcoding of the symbols loaded in VVPATs may be helpful in machine counting, may be examined by the ECI.

 “These are technical aspects, which will require evaluation and study, and hence we would refrain from making any comment either way,” the Bench said.

 

My  Take :

 

Ball  #   1


Ø  VVPAT ? How about EVBAT ? ……………………………. 28  March  2019

 

Extract :

EVBAT = Everyone Verifiable Block-chain Audit Trail

By getting everyone to vote using his / her Smart Phone , as suggested in :

VotesApp   ………………. 18  Aug 2013

       -       which would ensure a Block-chain technology based verification of ,

            #    100 % of the votes cast

            #    Automatically / Instantly

            #    Without need for any human presence

Anyone can view transactions recorded on a permissioned block-chain.

That means that once Election Commission managing the block-chain, verifies the votes, anyone — voters, candidates, or just interested third parties — could see the election results.


For details , read :

Block Chain for Voting ?  ……………….. 11  March   2018


Sure, it is too late for the general elections which are a few weeks away

 

Dear CJI , Hon Shri Gogoiji, (  supremecourt@nic.in   /  nalsa-dla@nic.in  ) :

 

It is time to test the hypocrisy of those opposition parties by telling them :

“ We , the Supreme Court are convinced with your arguments for 50 % VVPAT

  tally

  In fact, we are so convinced that we are ordering the Election Commission to

  undertake 100 % audit

  And to ensure that there is no need to carry out such audit in the presence of

  representatives of any political parties, we are ordering EC to implement :

     VotesApp  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ball  #  2


Ø  100 % verification of VVPAT ? No problem ! .. ………………………………02 Apr 2019


Extract :


Now, it is too late for the upcoming elections within the next few days , but I urge EC to consider following suggestion for the next election ( even the very next State Election ) :

Just above the EVM , mount a CCTV camera , which is connected with the EVM and gets actuated as soon as the voter presses any button on the EVM

Using “ Close Up / Zoom In “ , the camera will capture a very sharp and focussed image of the paper slip which is below the glass panel and displays following details :

#  Candidate Serial Number

#  Candidate Name

#  Candidate’s photo

 

Using Image Processing Software , this IMAGE will get converted into TEXT, - and get added to “ Verification Database of EVM # ABC 


[ - with the latest Facial Recognition technology available commercially, this will pose no problem ]


Each IMAGE – and its corresponding TEXT will carry a “ System Time Stamp “


When voting at a booth gets over at the end of the day , this entire database is tallied with the number of votes registered


That 100 % verification , would take a few seconds  !


That “ 100 % Electronic Audit  Tally [ EAT ], will be immediately shown to the representatives of all the Political parties who are authorized by the EC to remain present inside the booth


And they will be required to sign a EAT declaration , confirming the results shown to them


No more arguments / disputes !

 

Dear Shri Sunil Aroraji,

If you have any doubt re the feasibility of my suggestion, I request you to contact the manufacturers of the EVMs / CCTVs / TCS / Infosys / Wipro / L&T Infotech etc

This email is sent to :

complaints@eci.gov.in

gopalaswamin@eci.gov.in

balakrish@eci.gov.in

jaipriye@eci.gov.in

 

Ball  #  3


Ø  Votes Audit : Paper gives 99.9936% / Electronic gives 100 %.. ….18 Mar 2024


Extract :

With just 4 weeks to go for Lok Sabha Elections, it is too late to arrive at a “Compromise Solution “ for this problem

But, for State elections to be conducted in 2025 , I request you to consider my following suggestion to replace VVPAT with EAT ( Electronic Audit Trail ) :

#  Modify VVPAT machine ( whose current approx. cost = Rs 8,000 ). It will have

   NO PAPER – just a BLUE TOOTH enabled small electronic device (much like a

   mobile phone / wifi router ) – with necessary software

 #  This device ( shall we call it EAT ? ) will NOT be connected ( hard wired ) with

    EVM ( as at present )

#  EAT will be placed on the table of the Registering Clerk , who enters details in

    Voter Register / applies ink

#  Voter will place her mobile phone on TOP of the EAT , before entering the

    voting enclosure

#  As soon as voter selects her candidate and presses the button , that DATA will

    get transmitted to EAT . Of course, since EAT does not have a SCREEN , no

    one can see the DATA ( viz : Candidate Name / No / Party symbol )

 #  In turn , this ( Voter’s choice ) DATA, will get transmitted to voter’s mobile ( as

    password protected SMS ) – And to the Central Server of the Election

    CommissionVoter can now see the DATA using password. Data will visible

    only for 10 minutes from voting time  

  #  After casting her vote , Voter will pick up her mobile from top of EAT . This

    removal will erase the DATA from the memory of EAT and it will turn

    blank – ready to receive the mobile of the next voter ( activation )

    

 Advantages :   

( A )

This solution will guarantee 100 % voter audit , without increasing the work of

Election Commission. All political parties will support it, since this is their own

demand

( B )

As each vote gets cast , the data can get dynamically updated on the web site of

the Election Commission. Without revealing voter identity or the identity of the

political party , public will get to see the TREND of voting, such as :

#  Number of Votes cast / Percentage of votes cast ( up to the minute ) / Of

    course, no revelation of who is leading / trailing – which will be left to the

    analysts of TV channels

( C )

Final result will not require ANY COUNTING ( aggregating and uploading data from

55 lakh EVM ) , since uploading is continuously taking place ,every second, from

all over the country in REAL TIME. Election results of each of 542 seats, can

become visible WITHIN MINUTES of the last vote cast ! 

 

Thank You , Hon Justices ,

Shri Sanjiv Khannaji

Shri Dipankar Dattaji



-   For suggested to the Election Commission (EC) to explore the possibility of

    devising an electronic     machine” to count the VVPAT paper slips


with regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.HemenParekh.ai  /  27 April 2024

 

 

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