On a bright morning at Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School, the buzz of anticipation was unlike any typical election day. Rather than lining up at familiar wooden ballot boxes, students queued before a sleek, self-constructed Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), designed and assembled entirely by members of the school’s Coding Club.
Launched as a classroom experiment, the project quickly gained traction when its prototype debut last November drew enthusiastic praise from teachers and peers alike. “Each year, our school borrows EVMs from the Election Commission. We saw an opportunity to apply what we’ve learned in ICT and robotics, and build a homegrown version,” explained senior student and club member Kuenley Thujee Yangchen.
With guidance from ICT instructors and support from the Knowledge Lit Career (KLiC) exchange programme—an initiative backed by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development—the students have transformed a simple coding assignment into a fully operational election system. “Our students have tackled many technical projects before, but this is the first time they’ve delivered a complete, working EVM,” remarked ICT teacher Kuenzang Lhamo. “Their achievement reflects not only technical skill, but also remarkable project management and teamwork.”
Unlike standard EVMs, which store ballot counts internally, the Yangchenphug design transmits each vote directly to a connected computer. “This approach ensures immediate data backup and reduces the risk of device failure,” noted ICT teacher Sangay Tempa. The semi-automated model still requires a few manual steps—such as voter identity verification—but the team is already developing a fully automated version.
Looking ahead, club members plan to roll out a secure online dashboard to visualize real-time voting statistics and enable remote monitoring. “We’re prioritizing data encryption and user-friendly interfaces for both voters and operators,” said coding enthusiast Laxmi Prasad Dhakal. The students are also preparing comprehensive documentation, aiming to offer their blueprint to schools nationwide.
What began as a modest class assignment has now set a precedent for student-led innovation. As Yangchenphug’s pupils cast their votes with a proud “beep” of their own making, they not only selected their next captains—they also demonstrated that when young minds are empowered, even the most established systems can be reinvented from scratch.
