In response to a petition urging for greater scrutiny of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Supreme Court of India has directed its attention towards the Election Commission of India (ECI). The petition advocates for a comprehensive tallying of Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in elections.
Currently, VVPAT verification involves only a random selection of five EVMs per assembly segment. However, the petitioner insists on scrutinizing every EVM vote against its corresponding VVPAT slip, advocating for a more robust validation process.
Furthermore, the petitioner seeks to enable voters to physically deposit their VVPAT slips in a ballot box, ensuring their ballots are accurately accounted for.
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta has issued notice to the ECI, tagging the plea with other related matters concerning EVMs and VVPATs.
The petition, filed by lawyer and activist Arun Kumar Agrawal, challenges the ECI’s guideline of sequential VVPAT verification, arguing that simultaneous verification would expedite the process without compromising accuracy.
The plea highlights discrepancies between EVM and VVPAT counts in the past and emphasizes the importance of meticulous VVPAT verification, considering the significant investment in VVPATs by the government.
This development comes against the backdrop of previous petitions and court interventions regarding VVPAT verification processes. While the Supreme Court had previously increased the number of EVMs subjected to VVPAT verification from one to five, concerns persist regarding the adequacy of the verification process.
The Court’s scrutiny of election processes underscores the importance of transparency and integrity in the democratic process, as it continues to deliberate on matters of public interest concerning electoral procedures.
