NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has rejected Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s charge that the microchip in EVMs could be tampered to alter results, stating that not only was the chip one-time-programmable but also its tampering at the post-manufacture stage was ruled out due to stringent security protocols that blocked “unfettered” access to EVM warehouses and strongrooms.Gandhi, while addressing a press conference after the recent Congress’ win in there states, had alleged: “You have a countrywide electronic system and a chip installed in that system can be manipulated to disturb or effect result of the entire poll...The central question relating to EVMs remains open and has been answered by US and other countries who have rejected EVMs”.EC, in a detailed presentation on EVMs issued on December 14, sought to underline the distinction between EVM failure and tampering. EC said EVMs and VVPATs, being electronic gadgets, could develop defects. However, it added, tampering meant that the EVM should behave in a pre-defined and biased manner to favour a particular candidate. “No evidence of any incident of any EVM tampering , ever, has been produced,” it stated.The poll body explained that EVM is a standalone machine with no external connectivity. Its two components, the ballot unit and control unit, communicate only between themselves and slip into error mode if connected to another machine. Ruling out reprogramming of EVM chip, EC said code tampering by the chip manufacturer would get caught during code integrity check.Describing going back to ballot system as a “retrograde step” when all transactions were being done with technology, EC said there were 2,000 invalid votes in each constituency when ballots were used. It argued it was very easy to stuff votes in ballot paper era by using muscle power and also that counting of ballot was prone to errors.EC said while EVM usage had stabilised over two decades, VVPAT were still new machines and their usage was yet to stabilise. While EVM average failure rate is put at 1-2%, that of VVPATs is 5-6%.Listing the administrative and technological safeguards that make EVMs foolproof, EC said EVM software was designed/approved by EC-appointed technical evaluation committee. EVMs, it added, were manufactured at a secure facility and subjected to third-party testing.Post manufacture, EVM were stored in warehouses/strongrooms with a single entry point and secured by a double-lock system with 24-hour security. The Commission said that even in the unlikely event of the EVM being tampered, it would get detected during first-level check. After FLC, it added, EVMs could only be accessed by breaking the seals and locks of the strong room in the presence of two layers of security plus the representatives of candidates camping near the strong room. Such a scenario, said the Commission, was “ruled out”.As for Gandhi’s statement that US had stopped using EVMs, EC said direct recording machines, a version of EVMs, were in use in 27 states, among which paper audit trails were used in 15 states. EC added that DRMs were also used in Australia, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Mexico, etc.