The Supreme Court is set to issue directions on Wednesday regarding the cross-verification of votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs). The court will provide guidance on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes. The VVPAT system allows electors to verify whether their votes have been cast correctly.
A bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is scheduled to announce the directions on the plea. The apex court reserved its order on April 18.
Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the top court had advised petitioners during the hearing not to question the efficacy of EVMs and to appreciate the Election Commission’s efforts. One of the petitioners, the NGO ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR), sought to reverse the poll panel’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass, allowing voters to view the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.
During the hearing, which lasted for nearly two days, the bench engaged in a lengthy discussion with Nitesh Kumar Vyas, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, to gain a thorough understanding of the EVM’s operation. The court emphasized to advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, that voter satisfaction and trust are paramount in the electoral process. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, asserted that EVMs are standalone machines that cannot be tampered with, but the possibility of human error cannot be discounted.
On April 16, the top court had condemned criticism of EVMs and calls for a return to ballot papers, stating that the electoral process in India is a ‘monumental undertaking’ and that attempts to ‘bring down the system’ should not be made. The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls commenced on April 19, with the second phase scheduled for April 26. The ADR has requested that the EVM count be reconciled with the votes that have been verifiably ‘recorded as cast’ and that the voter be able to verify through the VVPAT slip that their vote, as recorded on the paper slip, has been ‘counted as recorded’.
