SC’s thumbs up to EVMs, junks PILs seeking return of paper ballot system

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, April 26

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed PILs seeking return to the paper ballot system or a 100% cross-verification of votes cast through EVMs with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips even as it issued certain directions to the Election Commission to strengthen the current voting system.

Editorial: EVMs get SC backing

“We must reject as foible and unsound the submission to return to the ballot paper system. The weakness of the ballot paper system is well known and documented… keeping in view the vast size of the Indian electorate of nearly 97 crore, the number of candidates…, the number of polling booths…, and the problems faced with ballot papers, we would be undoing the electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of the ballot papers,” a Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said.

Can’t undo electoral reforms

Keeping in view vast size of electorate, number of candidates, polling booths…, we’ll be undoing electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of ballot papers. SC Bench

Directives to EC

• Symbol loading units be sealed, secured in container & stored in strong room with EVMs for 45 days post results; may be opened, examined as in case of EVMs
• Top 2 runners-up can seek within 7 days of results verification of microcontroller chips embedded in 5% of EVMs per Assembly seat after paying fee to EC

Tight slap for Cong

SC verdict comes as a tight slap for Congress, other INDIA bloc parties for creating distrust against EVMs. — Narendra Modi, PM

Campaign to continue

Campaign on greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in poll process will continue. — Jairam Ramesh, Cong General Secretary

After conducting “an in-detail review of the administrative and technical safeguards of the EVM mechanism”, the Bench also rejected the demand for manual counting of VVPAT slips.

“Manual counting is prone to human errors and may lead to deliberate mischief. Manual intervention in counting can also create multiple charges of manipulation of results. Further, the data and the results do not indicate any need to increase the number of VVPAT units subjected to manual counting,” it said.

Giving the thumbs up to the EVM system in the midst of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bench said: “EVMs offer significant advantages. They have effectively eliminated booth capturing by restricting the rate of vote casting to 4 votes per minute, thereby prolonging the time needed and thus check insertion of bogus votes. EVMs have eliminated invalid votes, which were a major issue with paper ballots and had often sparked disputes during the counting process.

“Furthermore, EVMs reduce paper usage and alleviate logistical challenges. Finally, they provide administrative convenience by expediting the counting process and minimising errors,” it observed.

The Bench, which had called a senior EC official on April 24 for clarifications on certain aspects of functioning of EVMs and VVPAT, however, issued certain directions for strengthening the current EVM system.

“On completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024, the symbol loading units shall be sealed and secured in a container. The candidates or their representatives shall sign the seal. The sealed containers, containing the symbol loading units, shall be kept in the strong room along with the EVMs at least for a period of 45 days post the declaration of results. They shall be opened, examined and dealt with as in the case of EVMs,” it ordered.

“The burnt memory/microcontroller in 5% of the EVMs, that is, the control unit, ballot unit and the VVPAT, per assembly constituency/ assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency shall be checked and verified by the team of engineers from the manufacturers of the EVMs, post the announcement of the results, for any tampering or modification, on a written request made by candidates who are at serial Nos. 2 or 3, behind the highest polled candidate,” the Bench said.

“Such candidates or their representatives shall identify the EVMs by the polling station or serial number. All the candidates and their representatives shall have an option to remain present at the time of verification. Such a request should be made within a period of seven days from the date of declaration of the result,” it said.

“The DEO, in consultation with the team of engineers, shall certify the authenticity/intactness of the burnt memory/microcontroller after the verification process is conducted,” the SC ordered.

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