Slashdot Mirror

I have seen electronic voting machines in India, they seem lower tech than fancy voting machines from the US, however they work, they are like a keyboard, each key has a label next to it. an LED lights up registering your vote when you click them, its simple and it works.

When you click them, you know what key you have clicked and who you have voted for.

picture here http://www.bel-india.com/BELWebsite/images/EVM.jpg

I Agree completely.

Indian voting machine are also similar. No touch screens, no networking, nothing fancy. A very small micro-controller adds the votes. An extension cord to the Polling office to mark one person one vote, a 7 segment LCD to display the tally. At the end of the vote, each machine's tally is read, and overall total is done manually.

For reference
http://amit.chakradeo.net/2004/05/14/indias-electr onic-voting-machines-compared-to-diebold/
http://www.bel-india.com/Website/StaticAsp/prod_ni che4.htm

I would like to see a detailed technical tear-down of the Indian EVM though from the attacker perspective though. Couldn't find one in a casual search yet.

I actually worked with BEL many years ago. I worked for a company that developed this with BEL (we did the simulator part, they did everything else).

Their knowledge/usage of computers is limited, and I would put them in the same space as the average Joe/Jane American as far as computer/security knowledge is concerned.

I tried explaining that just a fancy GUI and interface doesn't make for a better voting process, and that the programs/algorithms need to be checked for correctness and security. I don't think the importance of it seeped through - and they still gushed about the fast/easy and hi-tech voting process.

That's about it...I guess the good part is that the machines are mostly firm/hardware and not the beefed up (down?) Windows machines like Diebold's ATM machines in the US. The machines are made by a company called Bharat Electronics. Unfortunately it looks like their server is ASP/IIS based.

The specs for the Indian EVM. This is definitely going to be the most widely deployed and used e-voting machine in the history of mankind. Seems pretty secure, except for the lack of a paper trail. But with 600 million eligible voters, I guess the lack of a paper trail means a lot of forests have been saved. Besides most attacks against the election system tend to be pretty unsophisticated , ie, boot-capturing and voter initimidation.

Looks like this machine will definitely go a long way in ensuring the fairness of Indian elections. Maybe I'll even vote next time.

You have a serious "I know everything" attitude problem. Whereas I've admitted to cases where I've been in the wrong you still refuse to do any such thing. About what I'd expect on /. but still disappointing.

There are several examples of airborne ESM systems. You still refuse to understand the technology or admit that it's in everyday use. Why is it so hard to understand? It's only a minor step above a fucking radar detector for crying out loud. Are radar detectors Star Trek technology too? Maybe the next time I get pulled over I'll just phaser the bastard when he asks what that little black box on my dash is.

I knew it. A gameboi. Learned everything he knows about military tactics from the God's eye view of a computerbased battlesim. Not bored with the game yet means you haven't figured out the algorithm.

Actually I haven't touched it in months -- I'm too busy with the real World. Sorry to debunk your image of me as a 17 year old geek in my parents basement. I actually served in the US Coast Guard to put myself through college. Two friends of mine and ex-roommates are graduates of USAFA. Another friend of mine is in her fourth year at Annapolis. Does this make me an all knowing expert on military tactics and technology? Hardly -- but then where does your knowledge come from? CNN? Naw probably Fox News based on your "I know everything and you are automatically wrong" attitude.

As for my Top Gun comments, you'll have to get an adult to read them and break it down into tiny little easily digestible bits for you.

As far as I can tell (no outside assistance required) your Top Gun statements boiled into two parts: A) One of the few things they got right was the maneuvering of the fighters to get a missile lock. While it's true that any fighter needs to maneuver somewhat to gain a firing position Top Gun took it completely over the top. If you are pointing at your bandit and illuminate him with fire control radar you have a missile lock -- you don't have wait five seconds for the green reticule to magically turn red. With IR missiles (the type they would have been using in a dogfight btw -- not Sparrows) you wouldn't even hear a radar lock -- it's a growl.

Your other Top Gun comment was about promiscuous flight instructors that sleep with hot looking pilots like Tom Cruise. Had you actually been busy reading my replies you would have noted my humor at this -- trying to keep the debate civil. Unfortunately you were too busy thinking you should show off and make me look like an idiot to notice this.

Does it give you a good feeling to spew your know-it-all attitude on an Internet forum? I agreed to disagree you -- you came back with a wise ass comment (that's wrong btw, but I won't try disputing it because you won't believe me anyway) about Radar and implied that I was a child who spent too much time playing warsims. If you had bothered to research the technology behind ESM you would have found airborne versions -- apparently I need to finger-feed you and point you in the right direction. Likewise if you had bothered to research Harpoon before bashing it you would have discovered that it's actually used by several real Naval forces the World over (Australia uses it) for training purposes. It is hands-down the most realistic war-sim that you can get outside of actually joining the service. It started out as a paper-rules game before being written for the first PC platform in 1989. It has almost 20 years of support and development from ex-Naval officers backing

Electronic voting done right in India

Those links seem to be acting up so here are new ones:

Here's the info and picture of one Electronic Voting Machine:
Electronic Voting machine (EVM)

Technical specifications: Technical specifications

-- Sig
I am telling you, you won't believe this !!

Those links seem to be acting up so here are new ones:

Here's the info and picture of one Electronic Voting Machine:
Electronic Voting machine (EVM)

Technical specifications: Technical specifications

-- Sig
I am telling you, you won't believe this !!

Here's the info and picture of one Electronic Voting Machine:
Electronic Voting machine (EVM)

Technical specifications: Technical specifications

-- Sig
I am telling you, you won't believe this !!

Here's the info and picture of one Electronic Voting Machine:
Electronic Voting machine (EVM)

Technical specifications: Technical specifications

-- Sig
I am telling you, you won't believe this !!

FYI the voting machines were designed and manufactured by Bharat Electronics in Bangalore.
B.E.L Website (www.bel-india.com)

They are using two kinds of voting machine, One from ECIL and another from BEL, both government owned companies(from the article).
A bit of googling bought their sites up. ECIL webpage is pretty low on details, but BEL gives some info here.
Apparently no OS is used, they have coded assembly right into the chips, so virtually tamper proof.

the only way to go is Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). India has been using them since mid-90s. Much easier than counting 600 million ballots. Much quicker too.