Kerala's 2 Gen Z voters & BTech students pioneer EC's shot at transparency; new EVM tracker

Aashin C Anil, a 19-year-old BTech Computer Science student from Pravachambalam, Thiruvananthapuram, will cast his first vote in an election in the upcoming local body polls. This election, he will also be part of something historic. For the first time, the State Election Commission is set to launch a tracking system for Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). The system runs on the software developed by Aashin and his best friend, another engineering student, Jeswin Sunsi from Kodakara, Thrissur.

They have developed EVM Track, a system that replaces the pen-and-paper method of tracking EVMs. The system is expected to introduce transparency when a rash of allegations of fraud and security breaches have plagued the use of EVMs in elections.

"The idea was floated by the SEC two years ago, but was stuck until I came across Aashin and Jeswin, both students at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology. Both boys had shown their prowess in hackathons and other projects. I knew this was a herculean task, but they executed it in the simplest way possible,” said EVM consultant and trainer L Suryanarayanan. 

Aashin said they immediately said yes to the project. What followed were months of sleepless nights borne out of pure passion. Jeswin recalled how Suryanarayanan spent hours explaining every detail so they fully understood what they were building. “We hadn’t even cast our first vote. I didn’t know what a ballot paper or control unit was. He taught us everything,” Aashin said.

According to Suryanarayann, one of the biggest challenges was creating a common database for EVMs. “It is hard to find minute details like the date of manufacturing. During first-level checking, we scanned the barcodes and built the primary database. Only after this level are machines deployed,” he explained. He added that because Kerala follows a three-tier election system, the duo had to develop separate lines and then integrate them. 

The EVM Track now allows the SEC to monitor machines right from the time they arrive from Hyderabad. “An EVM’s movement through a district or a panchayat can be tracked instantly. Tasks that earlier required pen-and-paper can now be done in two clicks,” Aashin said.

The software initially focused on simple features such as allotment and movement tracking before expanding into a complete system, including poll-day monitoring. “We can now identify which machine stopped working, what it is replaced with, and what stock is readily available,” Suryanarayanan said.

The SEC first approved a prototype or minimum viable product presented by the students. This was followed by several meetings, trial runs, three security audits, and multiple performance and quality checks. STQC (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification) directorate conducted the final security audit. Access to the software is role-based. “A returning officer can access only what is needed. Once their duty ends, the password is reset," said Suryanarayanan.

The project took about six months to complete, with many overnight work sessions. "We even spent our summer vacation working on the software. It was hectic but we loved each and every moment of it," Aashin said. "SRM encourages students to work on government and startup projects. The college gives us time to pursue our interests,” Jewsin added.

Jeswin, who grew up in Oman, said he has been surrounded by technology since childhood. “My father, Sunsi, is in the smartphone retail business. I’ve been learning coding since Class 6,” he said. “It has truly been an honour to work on this project. It’s the result of months of hard work,” he added.

Aashin, who studied Biology in Class 12, said his interest in technology began during the COVID-19 lockdown. “I started learning on my own and chose BTech Computer Science. I met Jeswin here, and we became best friends. We plan to launch a startup after college.”