Bengaluru, 5 October

Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday questioned the Election Commission of India's approach to testing the security of electronic voting machines (EVMs), arguing that political parties do not possess the technical expertise required to conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment of EVMs.

In a post on X, Kharge said the ECI's challenge was directed at political parties, but questioned how political organisations could conduct a technical assessment.

"The ECI's challenge was offered to political parties. How can political parties conduct a technical vulnerability assessment of EVMs?" Kharge said.

Kharge said he had twice written to the CEC seeking a court-monitored technical audit and an ethical hackathon involving cybersecurity experts.

He argued that such an exercise should put the EVM system before specialists capable of examining its architecture, software, access controls and vulnerabilities.

Kharge offered Karnataka's support for conducting an independent technical exercise, saying the state government was willing to sponsor the initiative and bring together experts.