The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has firmly opposed the use of VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines in upcoming local body elections, telling the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court that the demand is neither legally permitted nor technically workable.
In an affidavit submitted on Tuesday, Deputy Secretary K. Suryakrishnamurty said existing laws governing Municipal Corporations, Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Village Panchayats do not allow VVPAT use. The SEC added that it cannot introduce the technology unless the State Legislature amends the Acts. The court has adjourned the matter to Wednesday.
The petition, filed by Congress National Secretary Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe, seeks VVPATs or a return to paper ballots to ensure transparency. The SEC countered that the issue was already settled in 2017 when the High Court dismissed a similar plea, and noted that the present petition is flawed for not making the State of Maharashtra a party, even though only the Legislature can change the law.
Defending the continued use of EVMs, the SEC highlighted technical hurdles: local body polls involve multi-member, multi-post voting on a single EVM, while VVPATs are designed for single-post elections. A pilot test during Nanded Waghala Municipal Corporation elections in 2017 saw major glitches, and no committee endorsed wider use afterward. The SEC also said it had sought VVPAT-compatible EVMs for the BMC polls but the Election Commission of India declined.
On the petitioner’s alternative suggestion of reverting to ballot papers, the SEC said the option was impractical. It has no ballot boxes and would need nearly one lakh, which cannot be procured before the Supreme Court’s January 31, 2026 deadline for completing all pending local body elections.
Maintaining that its stand is based on legal, technical and logistical realities, the SEC requested the High Court to dismiss the petition. Senior advocate Pawan Dahat appeared for the petitioner.
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