In a recent development, the Supreme Court has turned down petitions calling for a comprehensive cross-verification of votes cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered concurring verdicts on the matter.
Justice Khanna, pronouncing the judgment, announced that the court has dismissed all petitions, including those advocating a return to ballot papers in elections.
The court permitted candidates who stand second and third in the elections to request verification of the microcontroller of EVMs by the manufacturer after the poll results. Additionally, the apex court stated that such a request can be made within seven days of the declaration of election results, provided the necessary fees are paid.
The court has granted permission for the verification of the microcontroller of EVMs by the manufacturer after the election results, upon the request of candidates who secure the second and third positions. Additionally, the apex court has specified that candidates can make a request for the verification of the microcontroller of EVMs within seven days of the declaration of election results, subject to the payment of fees.
The Supreme Court has issued two directives: firstly, containers containing the symbol loading unit must be sealed in the presence of polling agents and candidates and securely stored for 45 days. Secondly, the control unit, ballot unit, and VVPAT will be verified by engineers from the manufacturing companies after the counting of votes, upon a written request made within seven days of the declaration of results.
What is VVPAT?
Since 2000, India has utilized Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to record votes. These machines are equipped with a VVPAT or ‘voter verifiable paper audit trail’ unit, which generates a paper slip visible to the voter via a transparent screen for approximately seven seconds before being stored in a sealed drop box.
Currently, the electoral body counts and compares the VVPAT paper slips at five randomly selected polling stations within each state legislative assembly constituency, some of which are amalgamated to constitute one parliamentary seat.
‘Can’t control the elections’: Supreme Court
On Wednesday, the highest court remarked it could not “control the elections” or issue directives merely due to doubts regarding the effectiveness of EVMs, as it concluded its judgment on the array of petitions, which also alleged that the polling devices could be tampered with to manipulate the outcomes.