Entering symbols in VVPAT units cannot be equated with uploading software, says court
The Supreme Court on Friday said feeding serial numbers and names of candidates and their party symbols in bitmap les (images) in the voter veriable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units cannot be equated with uploading software.
The court was putting to rest apprehensions raised by petitioners that malicious software could be entered into the VVPAT along with symbols.
Appearing for the petitioner, Association for Democratic Reforms, advocate Prashant Bhushan had argued in court that when a vote was cast, the signal would travel from the ballot unit to the VVPAT to the control unit. He said malicious software hidden in the VVPAT would prove disastrous for free and fair elections.
“The symbol loading process undertaken by using the symbol loading unit cannot alter or modify the programme/rmware in the VVPAT which has been burnt/loaded in the memory. The burnt/loaded rmware in the control unit and the ballot unit is and remains candidate and political party agnostic,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed.
The court explained that a laptop/PC with the symbol loading application is used to create a bitmap le comprising the serial number, the candidate name and the symbol.
This le is loaded on VVPAT units by using the symbol loading units about 10 to 15 days prior to the date of polling. The particulars of the candidates or the political parties are not loaded or stored in the VVPAT.
Authorised engineers of the manufacturers and the District Election Ocer are involved in the symbol loading process. The whole process takes place in the presence of the candidates or their representatives and a monitor/TV screen displays the symbol loading process.
The control unit computes the total votes cast based on the number of times a button or all are pressed on the ballot unit. The control unit is agnostic to any political party or candidate, and only recognises the push button on the ballot unit.