Election Commission to challenge the public to hack Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in May

Amid criticism from various quarters over the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission plans to throw an open challenge to people in May to try to hack EVMs, an official source said on Wednesday. The source told IANS that from the first week of May, the EC may ask experts, scientists, technocrats and representatives of political parties to attempt hacking into the machines.The sources said the commission had announced a similar challenge in 2009 and no one could hack the EVMs. A number of opposition leaders, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday met President Pranab Mukherjee on the EVM issue. A delegation of 13 parties that called on the President included Congress Vice- President Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal-United.They submitted a memorandum to the President on alleged tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the February-March assembly elections. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have raised the issue of tampering of EVMs. The leaders of various opposition parties had met the Election Commission authorities on Monday and raised their concerns about EVMs.