Voting Machines Reliable: Supreme Court Accepts Election Commission’s Explanation | No chance to switch back to ballot system: Supreme Court accepts EC’s explanation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that in the scientific and technical investigation, the reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines and Vivipod machines has been confirmed. Vivipat dismissed the case seeking 100 percent counting of admit cards.

Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Democratic Reforms Association, Abhay Pak Chand and Arun Kumar Aggarwal demanding 100 percent counting of acknowledgment slips from the VVPAT machines that confirm who they voted for. A bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Dibangar Dutta heard all the 3 petitions as a single case.

On the part of the petitioners, there is a possibility of fraud in electronic voting machines. Hence, 100 per cent counting of the acknowledgment slips of the VVIPAT machine should be done and verified against the votes recorded in the electronic voting machine. It was informed that the election can be conducted by ballot instead of electronic procedure.

On the Election Commission’s side, ‘every election, the issue of electronic voting machines and VVPAT machines is systematically raised. It was informed that no abuse can be done in these machines.

Arguments on both sides ended on the 18th. On the 24th, the senior officers of the Election Commission gave an explanation to the judges about the technical aspects of the electronic voting system.

Justices Sanjivkhanna and Deepankar Dutta delivered the judgment in this case yesterday. It said: Do not blindly cast doubt on election procedures. In the scientific and technical investigation, the reliability of the electronic voting machines and VVIPOT machines has been confirmed.

With 97 crore voters in our country, it is very difficult to conduct elections through ballot paper. Invalid votes were the biggest problem. Electronic voting machines have solved that problem. Besides, 4 votes per minute are recorded by electronic machine process. Counting of votes also takes place quickly. Therefore, we completely reject the demand for a ballot system.

At present, VVPAT acceptance tickets count for 5 per cent in an assembly constituency. Continue this process. Therefore, we also completely reject the demand for 100 percent counting of VVIPAD receipts.

Voting ends on June 1. Thereafter, the SLUs should be sealed in the presence of candidates or agents. After the election, Electronic Voting Machines, VVPot machines along with SLU equipment should be secured in strong room for 45 days.

Candidates can complain: Candidates can appeal to the Election Commission if they suspect that the voting machines have been tampered with. 2nd and 3rd placed candidates can file a complaint with the Commission within 7 days after the declaration of election result. The SLU, Electronic Voting Machine, VVPod machine of that polling station should be properly inspected by the engineers of the concerned manufacturing company. This examination should be done in the presence of election officials and candidates. The entire cost of this shall be borne by the complaining candidate. If the irregularity is confirmed, the amount should be refunded.

According to Election Commission, it is difficult to count the vivipat acknowledgment slip as it is small. The Election Commission should consider making a separate electronic machine for counting these tickets.

Doubts arise as to what is the real purpose of calling for an election in the ballot practice. India is making tremendous progress in various fields including electoral reforms. But it seems that one party is trying to disrupt the country’s development and reforms. Such efforts should be nipped in the bud. The people, the judiciary, people’s representatives, the Election Commission and others must work together to protect democracy. To increase unity, harmony, trust and transparency. This is stated in the judgment.

“We keep saying that the electronic voting machine is 100 percent reliable. We also provide demonstrations. However, the issue is raised every election. In this regard, more than 40 cases have been filed in the Supreme Court and High Courts, and all of them have been dismissed,” Election Commission sources said.

What is SLU?: When the voters press the symbol of the candidate they want on the voting machine, the details of that candidate including name and symbol will be printed on the slip by the VVIPAT machine. For this, candidate names and symbols should be uploaded in the VVIPAT machine according to each block. SLU (Symbol Loading Unit) is the device that uploads symbols to the Vivipod machine.

First the details including names and symbols of the candidates are sent to SLU through the computer. Then, they are uploaded to VVpad via SLU. This will be uploaded before the polling day. Once the upload is complete, the SLU device will be removed from it. Hence, voters cannot see the SLU device while voting.