Botswana invites hackers to compromise new Indian e-voting system

Botswana’s electoral commission has invited expects to hack an Indian electronic voting machine under consideration to be used during the 2019 general elections.

The potential hackers are expected to register on May 15, 2017 ahead of the hacking of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) produced by Indian company Bharat Electronics Limited, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Monday.

The company will be demonstrating how secure the machines are before political party representatives and analysts next week.

“The demonstration session will offer an opportunity for those with the know how to disrupt, hack and compromise the secure performance of the machines to do so … All those with the technical capability to hack the EVM are invited to come forward and register,” they said.

The decision to use the EVM in Botswana follows the signing of the Electoral Amendment Bill last year by President Ian Khama to usher in the technology.

Opposition parties have rejected the introduction of the machines citing worldwide allegations of security breaches of the EVM.

The Electronic Voting Machines have come under a lot of criticisms in India after it was used in the 2009 elections.

There were claims of compromise, and recently tampering allegations by Indian political parties after assembly elections in March.

United States researchers also said in 2010 that they were able to change election results on the device by sending text messages from a mobile phone.

The Indian Electoral Commission has maintained that the machines cannot be manipulated. They also announced a hacking exercise on the machine, Indian news portal Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.