SC backs EVMs, rules out revival of paper ballots
Court says ‘blind distrust’ is not helpful, declines pleas for VVPAT slips to be given to electors and for 100% cross-veri€cation; key losing candidates can request and pay for veri€cation, it suggests
he Supreme Court on Friday upheld the electronic voting machine (EVM) system of polling and refused a plea to revive paper ballots.
“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 who contest the elections, the number of polling booths where voting is held, and the problems faced with ballot papers, we would be undoing the electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of the ballot papers. EVMs oer signicant advantages,” the Supreme Court reasoned.
EVMs were rst used in 1982 in the Assembly constituency of Paravur in Kerala in 50 out of 123 booths.
The court said that “blind distrust” of an institution or a system breeds unwarranted scepticism and impedes progress.
“We acknowledge the right of voters to question the working of EVMs, which are but an electronic device that has a direct impact
Tfor a healthy and robust democracy,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed. The judgment of the Bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, who penned a separate but concurring opinion, coincided with the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
The court refused the petitioners’ suggestion that paper slips from Voter Veriable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units be handed over to electors to take a leisurely look before inserting them into the ballot boxes. It further dismissed the plea by the petitioners — the Association for Democratic Reforms and Arun Kumar Agarwal — for cross-verication of all EVMs and VVPATs across the country. Now, only 5% of EVM-VVPAT counts are randomly veried in any constituency.
“While we acknowledge the fundamental right of voters to ensure their vote is accurately recorded and counted, the same cannot be equated with the right to 100% counting of VVPAT slips or a right to physical access to the VVPAT slips,” Justice Khanna noted.