Remote EVM (RVM)

#GS-02 Elections

Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)

EVMs were introduced in India for the first time during the by-election to the North Paravur Assembly constituency in Kerala in 1982.
The EVMs were used in the general election for the first time in the state assembly election of Goa in 1999.
They allow the citizens to vote electronically which reduces the effort of the Election Commission of India in counting the votes.
EVMs comprises of two units, control unit and balloting unit which are connected by a cable.
It can even be used in areas that have no electricity since it runs on a 6-volt single alkaline battery.
The control unit is kept with the polling officer selected by Election Commission.
Currently the EVMs used by the Election Commission of India can record a maximum of 2,000 votes.
Post 2013 EVMs can have a maximum of 384 candidates including NOTA.
The EVMs have been designed by the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) of the Election Commission in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Ltd. Bangalore and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd. Hyderabad.

Remote EVMs can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
Its aim is to enable remote voting by migrant voters.
RVM can handle up to 72 different constituencies from a single remote polling booth.

Over 30 crore electors had not exercised their franchise during the 2019 Lok Sabha election which meant voter turnout was only 4%.
The inability to vote due to internal migration is one of the prominent reasons for the low voter turnout.

The major causes of migration among the rural population are the need to work, marriage, and education.
Approximately 85% of the domestic migration happens within the States.

The most common reasons why people don’t enrol in their place of work are;

Frequently changing residences,
not having enough social and emotional connect with the issues of an area of migration, and
unwillingness to get their name deleted in the electoral roll of their home/native constituencies as they have permanent residence/property.