21 Oppn parties move SC on voting machines, hearing today

NEW DELHI: Less than a month before the national elections, 21 opposition parties have approached the Supreme Court, asking for Electronic Voting Machines would be tinker-proof. The court will hear their petitions on Friday.

The petitioners want more safety norms and strict standards for EVMs. They also want 50 per cent of VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Trail Audit Machines) to be tallied with the voting machines.

The parties that went to court include the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, Sharad Pawar's NCP, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, the Left parties, Samajwadi Party and Mayawati.

Since the 2017 assembly elections in which the BJP had a sweeping victory in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition contended that the voting machines have been tinkered with. Mayawati has called for a return to paper ballots.