On Friday, April 26, the Supreme Court rejected petitions for implementing a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and conducting 100% cross-verification of votes cast through electronic voting machines. The court also cautioned against indiscriminately distrusting any aspect of the system, warning that it could lead to unwarranted skepticism.
The bench headed by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued two concurring judgments, both of which rejected all pleas in the case, including the one seeking a return to paper ballots for elections.
An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) comprises three components: the ballot unit, the control unit, and the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail). All three components contain microcontrollers with pre-programmed memory. Currently, each assembly constituency is equipped with five polling booths equipped with VVPATs.
In the EVM VVPAT case, the Supreme Court has issued two directives.
- Justice Khanna instructed the Election Commission of India to store and seal the units used for loading symbols onto electronic voting machines in strong rooms for forty-five days after the process.
- Upon the request of the runners-up and third-place contenders, the Supreme Court also granted permission for engineers from the EVM manufacturers to verify the microcontroller of the machines after the declaration of results. The apex court stated that a request for the verification of the microcontroller could be made within seven days of the results being announced, subject to payment of fees.
Candidates have the option to request verification of the EVM program.
- Candidates who come second or third in the results have the right to request the verification of the burnt memory semi-controller of 5% of the EVMs in each assembly segment within a parliamentary constituency. Such requests must be made in writing within seven days of the announcement of the results.
- Upon receiving such a formal request, an engineering team from the EVM manufacturer will inspect and verify the EVMs.
- Candidates must utilize the serial number of the polling booth to identify the EVMs that require examination.
- Candidates and their representatives are permitted to attend the verification process.
- After verification, the district electoral official will report on the legitimacy of the burnt memory.
- As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the applicant who submits the request is responsible for bearing the costs related to the verification process.
- “If EVM is found tampered during verification, fees paid by the candidates will be refunded,” the bench stated.
- “While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted skepticism…,” Justice Datta stated.
Who submitted the petitions?
One of the petitioners, the non-governmental organization Association for Democratic Reforms, sought to challenge the election commission’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with opaque glass, which permits voters to view the slip only when the light is illuminated for seven seconds.
Furthermore, the petitioners have requested the court to mandate a return to the previous paper-based voting system.
The Lok Sabha elections, spanning seven phases, are set to commence on April 19 and conclude on June 4, with the results announced thereafter.