SC ‘no’ to 100% verification of EVM votes with VVPAT

NEW DELHI:

The bench headed by Justice Khanna issued two directives: It asked the Election Commission to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols are loaded into EVMs in safe rooms. Also asked to enable engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after announcing the results on the request of candidates, Justice Datta wrote a separate opinion, in accordance with the directions of Justice Khanna. He said concerted efforts to weaken India’s progress must be “nipped in the bud.”

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the pleas for complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), saying “blind distrust” of any aspect of the system can lead to unwarranted skepticism. While maintaining that “democracy is all about the pursuit of harmony and trust among all institutions”, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring judgments and dismissed all pleas in the case, including those seeking go to the ballots in elections. The court issued two guidelines. Delivering his judgment, Justice Khanna directed the Election Commission to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols are loaded into electronic voting machines in safe rooms.

The apex court also allowed engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after announcing the results on the request of candidates who stood second and third. Request for verification of the microcontroller can be made within seven days of declaration of results after payment of fees by the candidate making the request, the court said. “If EVM is found to have been tampered during the verification, the fees paid by the candidates will be refunded,” the report said. An EVM consists of three units: the voting unit, the control unit and the VVPAT. All three are embedded with microcontrollers with branded memory from the manufacturer. Currently, the Election Commission is conducting random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs in five polling booths per Assembly constituency.

“While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial when evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can lead to unwarranted skepticism…,” Justice Datta said. The bench also asked the EC to examine the EVM for votes, counting of paper slips and whether there can be a barcode for each party in addition to the symbol. Besides seeking a return to the ballot paper system, the three petitions had prayed that VVPAT slips be given to the voter to verify and put in the ballot box for counting, and that 100 percent of the VVPAT notes should be counted. said. “We have rejected them all,” Judge Khanna said. When the bench heard the matter on April 24, it had said it could not “monitor the elections” or issue directions simply because doubts had been raised about the effectiveness of EVM. The petitions alleged that voting machines could be tampered with to manipulate the results. NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, one of the petitioners, had sought reversal of the poll panel’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass that allows a voter to see the slip only if the light is on for seven seconds is on.

The petitioners have also asked the court to return to the old ballot paper system. Justice Dipankar Datta said in his statement that there appears to be a concerted effort to discredit, diminish and weaken India’s progress on all possible fronts and such attempts must be “nipped in the bud”. Justice Datta wrote his views in a separate judgment while concurring with the opinion of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench. He said that based on facts and circumstances, the issue of returning to the “paper voting system” has not and cannot arise. “It is of immediate importance to note that in recent years, a trend has been rapidly developing whereby certain vested interest groups are trying to undermine the achievements and achievements of the nation, earned through the hard work and dedication of its genuine workforce,” it said he. . He said no constitutional court would allow such an attempt to succeed as long as the court has a say in the case.

“I have no hesitation in accepting the contention of the senior counsel for the ECI (Election Commission of India) that the return to the ‘paper voting system’ of bygone era, as suggested, reveals the real intention of the petitioner association to bring the system into disrepute to bring. of voting through the EVMs and thereby derailing the ongoing election process by creating unnecessary doubts in the minds of the electorate,” Justice Datta said. He noted that people would only expect improvements in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) or even a better system in the coming years. “I have serious doubts about the bona fide of the requesting association if it seeks a return to the old order. Irrespective of the fact that previous efforts of the petitioner association to bring about electoral reforms have borne fruit, the suggestion put forward seemed inexplicable,” he said. Justice Datta said one should not be unaware that in a society that has pledged to uphold the rule of law, no one – no matter how high or low – is above the law.