Rejected Votes Reduce Sharply Over Last 10 General Elections

The number of rejected votes has come down from 2.51% in 1984 to 0.04% in 2009. The rejected vote percentage was at its highest in 1985 at 4.3% and again in 1992 with 4.4%. After 1998 when the first EVMs were used, the rejected votes reduced drastically to only 0.04% in last election (2009). The chart shows the impact of using the EVMs in the elections. The data is of the last 10 general elections and the percentage of rejected votes:

The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were first manufactured, devised and designed by Election Commission in collaboration with two Public Sector undertakings viz., Bharat Electronics Ltd., and Bangalore & Electronic Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabad in 1989-90. After several prototypes and extensive field trials the electronic voting machines or EVMs were first used in 16 constituencies during the 1998 general elections.