RAS question
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were first used on an experimental basis in Indian elections in:
Correct answer: (A) 1982 (Kerala).
Electronic Voting Machines were first used in Indian elections in May 1982 in the Parur Assembly Constituency of Kerala.
Explanation
EVMs were not introduced nationwide in one step. The Election Commission first used them during the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections held in May 1982, beginning with 50 polling stations in the Parur Assembly Constituency. The first experimental use therefore occurred in Kerala in 1982. The later milestones show expansion rather than origin: EVMs were used in other constituencies in 1982-83, introduced in selected Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and the NCT of Delhi in November 1998, and used in all parliamentary constituencies for the first time in the 2004 General Elections.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Goa is not the first-use case; Kerala had the first use in May 1982, while Goa's entire State Assembly election with EVMs came later in June 1999.
- (C) Rajasthan appears in the later November 1998 expansion with Madhya Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi, so it cannot be the first experimental use.
- (D) The 2004 General Elections mark the first use of EVMs in all parliamentary constituencies, not the first experimental use in Indian elections.
Concept
Electoral reforms include the institutional role of the Election Commission in modernising election administration. RAS governance questions often turn on distinguishing first experiments from later nationwide adoption.