Survey finds 83% of respondents trust EVMs, electoral process (This will have a box)

A whopping 83.61% of respondents who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections in Karnataka have shown a strong level of trust in the electoral process and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), according to a recent survey commissioned by Karnataka’s the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

The majority of respondents across all divisions believed that elections in India are conducted in a free and fair manner, with 91.31% agreeing, which includes 6.76% being neutral, it said.

The recent survey covered 5,100 respondents across 34 election districts covering 102 Assembly constituencies in the administrative divisions of Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru.

The survey, which was commissioned by State’s Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar, said the highest number of respondents who trusted EVMs was in the Kalaburagi division – 83.24%.  In this division, the Congress made a clean sweep in the 2024 Parliamentary polls. The trust in the electoral process and EVMs was 70.67% in the Mysuru division, 63.90% in the Belagavi division and 63.67% in the Bengaluru division.

The study titled “Lok Sabha Elections 2024 — Evaluation of Endline Survey of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Citizens” was conducted to assess the outcome of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. It reflected strong democratic engagement, with 95.75% of respondents reporting that they voted. While awareness of voter lists was high (85.31%), understanding of online registration, home voting, and grievance mechanisms remained limited.

Findings also revealed high levels of EPIC possession (99.02%) and voter list inclusion (98.18%), though gaps existed in awareness about the voter registration process, especially in Bengaluru.

Digital platform usage among voters was low, with only 18.37% accessing election-related websites or apps. Booth-level officer (BLO) visits were the most common mode for voter enrolment (47.21%), it said.

Overall awareness of the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) is considerably high across all divisions, with 90.1% of the total respondents stating that they are aware of it. Mysuru division leads with the highest awareness at 96.08%, followed by the Kalaburagi division at 94.10% and the Belagavi division at 93.33%. In contrast, the Bengaluru division reports the lowest awareness level at 81.89%, with a relatively higher proportion of respondents (10.06%) stating they are not aware and 8.06% uncertain.

It said the majority of respondents across all divisions believe that their understanding of the right to vote is true, reported by 84.78% overall.

A total of 95.75% of respondents reported they voted in the 2024 elections. The primary factors influencing voter choice included candidate merit, party reputation, and personal integrity. Long queues (51.21%) were reported as the most common difficulty in the voting process.

In his post on X, State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra said the survey had “exposed” the Congress ‘vote chori’ campaign. He called it “a direct blow to @RahulGandhi”, who, unable to accept @INCIndia’s repeated electoral failures, had launched a “reckless campaign casting doubts on the EC.”

However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took to X to rebut these claims. In a six-point rejoinder pointing to various factors, including the administrative purpose of the survey, its timing and sample size he said, “Over the last 24 hours, an Election Commission survey has been selectively used to manufacture a misleading narrative — suggesting that serious concerns about electoral malpractice raised by Rahul Gandhi are somehow disproved.” He said that “a limited, pre-event administrative survey cannot bury criminal evidence, chargesheets, or unanswered questions”.

In a press conference, Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad alleged that the survey was commissioned through the government-linked agencies and not an independent constitutional or judicial body.

“The Election Commission is at its lowest ebb in terms of its credibility. So they want to build up their image...If the Election Commission wants to improve or build its image, there should be transparency. They should be impartial. They should listen to the political parties or the electoral representatives...”, he told reporters here.