EVMs Can't Be Tampered With, Return To Ballot Paper Will Undo Electoral Reforms: Supreme Court

Rejecting the petitions seeking 100% cross-verification of EVM data with VVPAT records, the Supreme Court has observed that the suspicions regarding EVM tampering are unfounded and reverting back to the ballot paper system, as prayed, would undo the reforms that have taken place over the years.The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta pronounced the verdict earlier today, rendering two separate, concurring judgments. Although the prayers of the petitioners were rejected, the bench passed two directions relating to storage of Symbol Loading Units and post-poll checking of 5% EVMs per assembly segment on request by runner-up candidates. More about these directions can be read here.This article summarizes what the top Court has said on the possibility of EVM tampering, going back to the ballot paper system and giving of VVPAT slips to voters to drop in the ballot box.Possibility of EVM manipulationThe petitioners' claims that EVMs can be manipulated/modified have been rejected for lack of foundation. On this aspect, Justice Khanna writes, "...the possibility to hack or tamper with the agnostic firmware in the burnt memory to tutor/favour results is unfounded. Accordingly, the suspicion that the EVMs can be configured/manipulated for repeated or wrong recording of vote(s) to favour a particular candidate should be rejected."The judge underlines that there are ample checks in place to ensure integrity of the EVMs and voting process, by noting inter-alia:(1) That every elector is permitted to vote in secrecy in the voting compartment of the polling station. No elector is permitted to enter the voting compartment when another voter is inside;(2) That the elector is entitled to view through a transparent window the printed VVPAT paper slip showing the serial number, the name and the symbol of the candidate for whom he has voted;(3) That even after entering details in Form 17A and having put signature or thumb impression thereon, if an elector does not vote, the presiding officer is required to make a remark in Form 17A and take the signature or thumb impression of the elector against such remark;(4) That a presiding officer is periodically required to check the total number of votes cast as recorded in the control unit with the data as recorded in Form 17A;(5) That at the close of the poll, the presiding officer is required to prepare an account of votes recorded in Form 17C;(6) That counting is done in the presence of the polling agents/candidates by pressing the 'RESULT' button on the control unit;(7) That the VVPAT slips of five polling stations per assembly constituency/assembly segment of the parliamentary constituency are randomly selected and counted. The results are then tallied with the electronic results of the control unit;(8) That as per ECI guidelines, in case there is any mismatch between the total number of votes recorded in the control unit and Form 17C on account of non-clearance of mock poll data or VVPAT slips, the printed VVPAT slips of the respective polling stations are counted and considered if the winning margin is equal to or less than total votes polled in such polling stations;(9) That the EVMs have been subjected to test by technical experts committee from time to time. These committees have approved and did not find any fault.It is further observed that more than 4 crore VVPAT slips have been tallied till date with the electronic counts of their control units. But not a single case of mismatch (except one where discrepancy was owed to non-deletion of mock poll data) was found.Return to ballot paper votingInsofar as the petitioners' prayer to resort back to ballot paper voting, Justice Khanna records that the weaknesses of the ballot paper system are well-documented and reverting back to the old system would undo the electoral reforms:"In the Indian context, keeping in view the vast size of the Indian electorate of nearly 97 crore, the number of candidates who contest the elections, the number of polling booths where voting is held, and the problems faced with ballot papers, we would be undoing the electoral reforms by directing reintroduction of the ballot papers."The judge explains the superiority of EVMs over ballot paper system thus:"They have effectively eliminated booth capturing by restricting the rate of vote casting to 4 votes per minute, thereby prolonging the time needed and thus check insertion of bogus votes. EVMs have eliminated invalid votes, which were a major issue with paper ballots and had often sparked disputes during the counting process. Furthermore, EVMs reduce paper usage and alleviate logistical challenges. Finally, they provide administrative convenience by expediting the counting process and minimizing errors."Taking a stronger view of the petitioners' prayer, Justice Datta opines, "Question of reverting to the “paper ballot system”, on facts and in the circumstances, does not and cannot arise. It is only improvements in the EVMs or even a better...

EVMs Can't Be Tampered With, Return To Ballot Paper Will Undo Electoral Reforms: Supreme Court

Debby Jain

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