Electoral Systems

Election Commission Must Count All VVPAT Slips to Protect Electoral  Integrity  M G Devasahayam 22 Feb 2022  https://www.newsclick.in/Election-Commission-Must-Count-All-VVPAT-Slips-Protect-Electoral-Integrity   
Every EVM has a VVPAT, but the paper slips are not counted to verify the votes polled and counted. This is why people fail to trust the election results.

The design and implementation of EVMs and the results of both software and hardware verification are not public, nor open to a full independent review. The Voter Verifiable Paper Trail or VVPAT system does not allow voters to verify the slip before the vote is cast. Due to the absence of end-to-end (E2E) verifiability, the present EVM system is not verifiable and, therefore, unfit for democratic elections.

There are two votes now--one recorded in the EVM and one printed by the VVPAT. Rule 56D(4)(b) of the Conduct of Election (Amendment) Rules, 2013, provides for the primacy of the VVPAT slip count over the electronic tally of ballots cast and calculated on the EVMs. Therefore, there is no justifiable reason why all VVPAT slips should not be counted in every Assembly Constituency to assuage suspicions in voters’ minds that their votes have not been recorded and counted accurately.

the false claims of certain ECI officials that counting all VVPAT slips to declare results will take several days. It is common knowledge that under the paper-ballot system, even in larger Parliament or Assembly Constituencies, votes were counted and results declared within 16 or 18 hours. Counting 100% VVPAT slips will not take longer than this. If need be, mechanical sorters can hasten the counting process.

Page Under Construction..

We need a public hearing on the Exit Polls to examine the designers, and data collection and tabulation process.. and the conversion of voting percentages to seats . 

SG: Exit polls are carried out by asking people whom they voted for when they exit the polling booth. It is possible knowing the terror of bjp , and knowing who owns everything, people say what they think is safe and necessarily the truth. So more than transparency it reflects on the political power that exists in such places

JD. How exactly is the question asked, to whom, sampling methodology, and corelation of result with disaggregation based on sample and constituency wise spread, both in terms of vote share and that impact on no of seats. What is the extrapolation formulae etc. The sample targets segment wise and the actual collection. It is not that every voter will be able to understand it, but civil groups could have rating, rankings and public scrutiny so that the poll agencies and the media houses work to some standards.

SS: The exit poll results were publicised  after the completion of regular poll. The essential purpose of the exit poll is to increase the TRP and thereby the advertisement revenue. The very fact that for the same state exit polls by different agencies offer - at times strikingly, different results should make one discount the significance of such polls. Asking for some sort of "control" - other than the restrictions on timing already in place, may very well turn out to be counterproductive; particularly, in the prevailing conditions.  I. Results from different agencies are different.
II. Assuming there's only one result, it's either accurate or close to accurate or wide off the mark.
III. Whatever may be the case, results for individual constituencies are not available.
IV. Even without any exit poll, the potential MLAs can very much be sounded out unless they're cordoned off.
V. So, what's the point? 

JD. The line that nothing can be done, the system is corrupted and till we defeat capitalism nothing can be done, is too defeatist. Every one agrees that there is a nexus (money power etc).. but there needs to be some checks.. not so much through regulation, but more in terms of disclosure.

But exit polls are done only after elections are over.
JD The exit polls are used to pressurise potentially winning candidates, into shifting parties.. they are most vulnerable at this point, as they have gone for broke at this stage... 

After exit polls, senior BJP & Congress leaders in Uttarakhand   https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/after-exit-polls-sr-bjp-cong-leaders-in-ukhand/articleshow/90088566.cms   While BJP rushed senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Sunday to assist party leader and former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in preparing for any political exigency, Congress deputed Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda to Dehradun on Tuesday. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is scheduled to arrive in the city on Wednesday and stay put in the state capital till things take a final shape after the results. 
Kautilya Singh / TNN / Mar 9, 2022,

Of much greater significance is the opinion poll. That may influence the voters' mood and inclination.  

JD: But isnt that a important contribution to the democratic process, provided that there is a level playing field and a "quiet time"  We need more transparency.. on both the exit as well as opinion. The transparency should also percolate to the amount of finance each channel has got from different parties, Corporate,
 
Shivam Vij  in how to win an election writes about the power of the exit poll in swinging votes. People (undecided) will to vote for a candidate they believe will win. So it’s important to show BJP is winning.  

Why Axis MyIndia does exit polls but not a pre-poll seat forecast  https://theprint.in/politics/why-axis-myindia-does-exit-polls-but-not-a-pre-poll-seat-forecast/237277/  SHIVAM VIJ 
19 May, 2019   Axis MyIndia's head Pradeep Gupta Reasons:  political clients, ( putting out opinion polls numbers just before elections upsets someone or the other.) surveyors' safety (When the surveyors visit after an opinion poll, to, say, do the exit poll, they often meet hostile locals)  and a long-drawn election (It is not useful to do a survey when candidates have not been announced in many places) .

Six reasons why the media should stop publishing opinion and exit polls
The media should have more faith in their reporters than in unscientific surveys. https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/11/24/six-reasons-why-the-media-should-stop-publishing-opinion-and-exit-polls  By Shivam Vij 24 Nov, 2015

As it is the Indian media’s credibility sinks further with every news cycle. By taking opinion and exit polls seriously, news channels are trading credibility for TRPs. They need to collectively decide that they don’t need these surveys to gauge public mood in elections.  A post-poll survey is one that is conducted a day after the voting, whereas an exit poll is conducted by surveying voters as they come out of the polling booth. A post-poll survey is by design less likely to get it wrong.

We don’t need surveys.. 1) They are unscientific: 2) They don’t help us gauge public mood: 3) Media doesn’t spend enough to conduct good surveys: 4) They possibly hurt democracy: 5) They never get it right: 6) They are prone to political manipulation:

Since polls, eco survey, ratings and all such exercises affect democratic functioning all of them by whatever name should be subjected to scrutiny, so that journalists and citizen journalists can comment on them.

वोटों के लिए इतनी बौखलाहट? हार दिख रही है मोदी योगी को ? | Abhisar Sharma  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaslFkN4fkE 
14th Feb, 2022 आज के इस शो में वरिष्ठ पत्रकार अभिसार शर्मा बात करने वाले हैं चुनावों से पहले प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के न्यूज़ चैनल्स को दिए गए इंटरव्यूज की साथ ही योगी आदित्यनाथ के अनाप-शनाप बयानों की जो एक तरफ़ चुनाव आयोग के दिशा निर्देशों के विरूद्ध हैं दूसरी तरफ़ एक तरह की बौखलाहट इनमें दिखाई देती है. जानिए क्या हैं वो बयान

So much outrage for votes? Is Modi and Yogi seeing defeat?   Abhisar Sharma  talk about the interviews given to the news channels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the elections as well as Yogi Adityanath's unspeakable statements
On one hand, those who are against the guidelines of the Election Commission, on the other hand, there is a kind of outrage in them.  https://fb.watch/b9T9Gn_zmr/

Ex. IAS Kannan Gopinathan makes shocking revelations on EVM Vulnerability: VVPAT & SLU can be rigged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw1l70dECSw  Jan 6, 2022
Senior Journalist and Founder The Public India, Anand Vardhan Singh talks to Kannan Gopinathan, an IAS who resigned from his services and both discuss the vulnerability of Electronic Voting Machines EVMs during elections in India. After getting induced for polling EVM has been in controversy and so far it can’t be said to be foolproof, either by the Election Commission of India or the Government of India. Kannan Gopinathan has prepared a detailed paper that how the EVMs can tamper and what are loopholes on Ballot Unit (BU), VVPAT and the Control Unit (CU). He also tells about the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) and how these units can be connected to any other unit.