SC junks pleas seeking cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with VVPAT

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected pleas seeking complete crossverification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail VVPAT and said blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticismMaintaining that democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta delivered two concurring verdicts and dismissed all the pleas in the matter including those seeking to go back to ballot papers in electionsThe court issued two directives Pronouncing his verdict Justice Khanna directed the Election Commission to seal and store units used to load symbols for 45 days after the symbols have been loaded into electronic voting machines in strong roomsThe apex court also allowed engineers of the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after declaration of the results on the request of candidates who stood second and thirdRequest for the verification of the microcontroller can be made within seven days of declaration of the results after payment of fees the court saidIf EVM is found tampered during verification fees paid by the candidates will be refunded it saidAn EVM comprises three units ballot unit control unit and the VVPAT All three are embedded with microcontrollers which have a burnt memory from the manufacturerCurrently the Election Commission conducts random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs at five polling booths per assembly constituencyWhile maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism Justice Datta saidThe bench suggested the poll panel examine whether electronic machines can be used for counting VVPAT slips and also whether bar codes can be used for parties along with their symbolsBesides seeking to return to the ballot paper system the three petitions before it had prayed that VVPAT slips should be given to the voter to verify and put in the ballot box for counting and there should be 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips the bench saidWe have rejected all of them Justice Khanna saidHearing the matter on April 24 the bench had said it cannot control the elections or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of EVMThe petitions had claimed the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the resultsNGO Association for Democratic Reforms one of the petitioners had sought reversal of the poll panels 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven secondsThe petitioners have also sought the courts direction to revert to the old system of ballot papersThe sevenphase Lok Sabha polls began on April 19 and will conclude with the announcement of results on June 4This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever