Supreme Court verdict tomorrow on 100% EVM-VVPAT verification petitions

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Supreme Court is set to announce its verdict on Friday (April 26) on petitions seeking 100% electronic voting machine (EVM) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) verification. This comes after the court’s statement on Wednesday, April 24, where it had expressed its inability to conduct elections and emphasised the need to trust the technical submissions of the Election Commission.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment on the plea demanding full verification of EVMs and VVPATs. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta remarked, “Courts have already intervened twice, if there is room for improvement, we will consider it.”

Also Read: SC says it cannot conduct elections, have to trust EC’s technical submissions

The EC defended its current practice of 5% VVPAT verification, arguing that EVMs are tamper-proof and challenging candidates to show any mismatch between EVM votes and VVPAT slips. However, petitioners disputed this, raising doubts about the re-programmability of EVM microcontrollers. They cited an RTI reply indicating that microcontrollers can be re-programmed, contrary to the EC’s claims.

The court raised fresh queries with the EC regarding EVMs and VVPATs, seeking clarity on whether VVPAT machines also have a programmable memory, storage, sealing of EVM machines, security of VVPAT machines, and duration for storage of EVMs and VVPAT machines.

The court emphasised the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral process. It interacted with senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas to understand the functioning of EVMs. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the EC, asserted that EVMs are standalone machines and cannot be tampered with, although he acknowledged the possibility of human error.

Notably, the top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with VVPATs. The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system that enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), one of the petitioners, sought the reversal of the poll panel’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass.

With the Lok Sabha polls currently underway, the ADR seeks to match the count in EVMs with verifiably recorded votes and ensure voter satisfaction through VVPAT verification.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls began on April 19, with the second phase scheduled for April 26.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow