Era of Ballot Paper Not To Return. No 100% Matching of Slips With VVPAT: SC
- By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
- Apr 26, 2024
- 17
The Supreme Court has made it clear that the era of ballot paper voting will not return in the country. That means voting will be done through EVM only. Along with this, there will not be 100% matching of slips with VVPAT. However, the EVMs will remain safe for 45 days and an investigation will be conducted if a complaint is made within 7 days after the results.
SC has rejected all the petitions related to this case. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Dutta has given the decision with consent. Justice Sanjeev Khanna said, we have rejected all the petitions. The court has also directed that after the elections, the symbol loading units should also be sealed and secured. The court directed that the candidates will have the option to get the micro controller program of the EVM checked by a technical team after the declaration of the results, which can be done within 7 days of the announcement of the election.
On counting of voting slips, the court said, after completion of the symbol loading units, these will be sealed in containers. It will be signed by the candidates and will be kept in the strong room for 45 days after the declaration of the results.
That means EVM data and records will be kept safe for 45 days after the results are declared.
The first instruction is that after the completion of the symbol loading process, the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) should be sealed and kept safe for 45 days.
If the candidates who came second and third in the result wish, they can demand re-verification within seven days of the result being declared. In such a situation, the memory of the microcontroller will be checked by a team of engineers.
Justice Khanna said that the candidates themselves will have to bear the cost of VVPAT verification. If any fault is found in the EVM then the expenditure will be refunded.
Justice Dutta said that it is not right to blindly doubt any system. Democracy is about maintaining harmony and trust among all the pillars. We can strengthen the voice of our democracy by promoting a culture of trust and cooperation.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission four questions related to EVM and VVPAT.
1). What microcontroller is installed in the control unit or VVPAT?
2). Is a microcontroller capable of being programmed once?
3). How many symbol loading units are available in EVM?
4). The limit for election petitions is 30 days and hence the data in the EVM is stored for 45 days.
But the limit for keeping it safe under the Act is 45 days. Might the storage period need to be extended?
The Election Commission official told the court that a voting unit consists of a ballot unit, control unit and a VVPAT unit. All units have their own microcontroller. These controllers cannot be tampered with. The program can be fed only once in all microcontrollers. We have two manufacturers for uploading election symbols. One is ECI and the other is Bharat Electronics.
The Election Commission said that all EVMs are kept safe in the strong room for 45 days. After that, it is confirmed from the Registrar, Election Commission whether any petition has been filed regarding the elections. If the application was not filed then the strong room would have been opened. In case any petition is filed, the strong room is kept sealed.
On Wednesday, SC had told that the court is not the controlling authority of elections. The court has intervened twice on the EVM issue. The bench reminded that the Supreme Court has earlier issued two orders on VVPAT, which is an independent vote verification system and enables voters to see whether their votes have been recorded correctly or not.
The court said, one order was passed when the court ordered the use of VVPAT during elections and the second order was passed when the court directed that the use of VVPAT be increased from one to five booths.
Now you all want us to issue instructions to go back to the ballot papers. The bench said, if necessary, it can pass directions to strengthen the existing EVM system. In April 2019, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission to increase the number of VVPATs along with EVMs from one to five in each assembly constituency in a parliamentary constituency.