The Supreme Court of India on Monday, April 1 sought the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s response on verifying all Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips during elections. Currently, VVPAT verification only examines votes recorded in five randomly selected Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) per assembly segment. However, the petition seeks tallying of each vote cast in the EVM against corresponding VVPAT slips.
The petition, filed by lawyer and activist Arun Kumar Agrawal, also argues that the ECI's guideline of sequential VVPAT verification causes undue delays in the counting process. It adds that simultaneous verification and the deployment of additional officers in each assembly constituency could help complete the VVPAT verification within five to six hours.
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta has issued the notice to the ECI and grouped the plea with other pending matters concerning EVMs and VVPAT.
The ECI had cited practical difficulties in verifying all VVPATs on another petition filed recently. A bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna had expressed reservations about the demand for 100% VVPAT verification, saying that it will add to the ECI's burden without any significant advantage.
According to reports, the petition filed on Monday also suggests allowing voters to physically deposit their VVPAT slips in a ballot box to ensure accurate representation of their ballots. The plea recalls previous legal battles surrounding VVPAT verification, including requests for increased VVPAT verification by opposition parties before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court had increased the verification count from one to five EVMs per assembly segment and dismissed the plea. Given past discrepancies between EVM and VVPAT vote counts and various concerns raised by experts, the petitioner states that it is important that all VVPAT slips be meticulously counted.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the notice was an important first step.”But for it to be meaningful, the matter should be decided before the elections commence. It bears constant repetition that the Election Commission has refused to meet a delegation of INDIA party leaders who have been demanding 100% VVPATs in order to increase public confidence in EVMs and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process,” he added.