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

BENGALUR:

According to a recent survey commissioned by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka, 83.61% of the respondents who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections in Karnataka showed strong levels of confidence in the election process and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

It was stated that the majority of respondents from all sections believed that elections in India were held in a free and fair manner, 91.31 percent agreed with this and 6.76 percent were neutral.

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

The survey commissioned by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar said the highest number of respondents relying on EVMs was in Kalaburagi division at 83.24%. In this split, Congress made a clean sweep in the 2024 Parliamentary elections. Confidence in the election process and EVMs was 70.67% in Mysuru division, 63.90% in Belagavi division and 63.67% in Bengaluru division.

High numbers voted

The study titled “Lok Sabha Elections 2024 — Evaluation of Last Line Survey (KAP) on Citizens’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices” was conducted to evaluate the results of the Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. This reflected a strong democratic commitment, with 95.75% of participants reporting that they had voted. While awareness of voter lists was high (85.31%), understanding of online registration, home voting and complaint mechanisms remained limited.

The findings also revealed high levels of EPIC ownership (99.02%) and voter roll participation (98.18%); however, there were gaps in awareness about the voter registration process, especially in Bengaluru.

Digital platform usage among voters was low; Only 18.37% of voters were accessing election-related websites or apps. Booth-level officer (BLO) visits were reported to be the most common method for voter registration (47.21%).

knowing EPIC

General awareness of Voter Photo Identification Card (EPIC) is quite high across all departments; 90.1% of the total respondents indicate that they are aware of this. Mysuru division has the highest awareness at 96.08%, followed by Kalaburagi division at 94.10% and Belagavi division at 93.33%. In contrast, the Bengaluru division reports the lowest level of awareness at 81.89%; A relatively higher proportion of respondents (10.06%) say they are unaware and 8.06% say they are undecided.

The majority of respondents across all sections believed their understanding of the right to vote was correct, with an overall rate of 84.78% reported.

A total of 95.75% of participants reported voting in the 2024 elections. Major factors influencing voter choice included candidate merit, party reputation, and personal integrity. It was stated that the most common difficulty in the voting process was long queues (51.21%).

Political reactions

State BJP chief BY Vijayendra, in his post on He called it a direct blow to @Rahul Gandhi, who failed to accept @INCIndia’s repeated electoral failures and launched a “reckless campaign casting doubt on the EC”.

However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appealed to X to refute these allegations. Citing various factors including the administrative purpose of the survey, its timing and sample size, he said in his six-point reply: “Over the last 24 hours, the Election Commission survey has been selectively used to fabricate a misleading narrative, which suggests that the serious concerns expressed by Rahul Gandhi about election malpractices have somehow been debunked.” “A limited, pre-incident administrative investigation cannot hide criminal evidence, accusations or unanswered questions,” he said.

Congress leader BK Hariprasad, in a press conference, claimed that the poll was conducted through government agencies and not an independent constitutional or judicial body.

“The Election Commission is at its lowest level in terms of credibility. That’s why they want to improve their image… If the Election Commission wants to improve or create its image, there must be transparency. They must be impartial. They must listen to political parties or voters’ representatives…”, he told reporters here.