Use ballot papers in next elections, Congress tells EC

SHORTLY AFTER THE UP ELECTIONS LAST MONTH, BSP CHIEF MAYAWATI HAD ALLEGED THAT

THE EVMS USED IN THE STATE WERE FUDGED

With the controversy over faulty electronic voting machines (EVM) in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh refusing to die down, the Congress on Monday urged the Election Commission (EC) to introspect and walk the extra mile in announcing that ballot paper will be used in the next elections.

“Ultimately, democracy is based on public trust. If there is a feeling of widespread distrust in EVMs, the EC, rather than taking a cussed stand on it, should introspect,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

The row in Bhind erupted after a purported video of an EVM trial ahead of the bypolls showed the paper trail attached to it generating a receipt for BJP when state chief electoral officer Saleena Singh pressed the button for the Samajwadi Party candidate.

A Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail or VVPAT allows a voter to know if the machine registered a vote for the candidate selected. The slip is visible for seven seconds before it drops into a box.

“How does it really bother the EC that rather than EVMs, the voting is done through ballot papers? Ultimately, if the stakeholders are apprehensive, whether rightly or wrongly, that these machines are gerrymandered with or are capable of being gerrymandered, there is no reason for the EC to become defensive about it,” the Congress leader said.

Besides the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party too had demanded reverting to the old ballot paper system.

A Congress delegation and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal separately met poll panel officials on Saturday and told them that EVMs were being repeatedly fudged and that their software could be faulty. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav too demanded an inquiry.

Shortly after the UP elections last month, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had alleged that the EVMs used were fudged. Kejriwal had echoed the allegations. At the time, the EC had rejected the charge.

“The EC at best is an arbiter and not the controller of the democratic process. It should walk the extra mile and voluntarily say that if the stakeholders do not have confidence in this paradigm, we will use ballot papers in next polls. What is the difficulty with that?” Tewari asked.

“The EC does not need to become an advocate of EVMs and should in fact insist that if stakeholders do not have confidence in EVMs, we are ready to explore the possibility of shifting to ballot papers,” he added.