New Delhi: In a noteworthy move, the Supreme Court has requested feedback from the Election Commission and the Central government regarding a petition that calls for a comprehensive tally of VVPAT slips during elections. This contrasts with the current method of verifying only five randomly chosen EVMs using VVPAT paper slips.
The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is a standalone vote confirmation system that allows voters to verify if their vote has been correctly cast. It produces a paper slip that the voter can see, which is then stored in a sealed envelope and can be accessed in case of a dispute.
Previously, on April 8, 2019, the apex court had directed the election body to raise the number of EVMs undergoing VVPAT physical verification from one to five per assembly segment in a parliamentary constituency.
Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, part of the bench, acknowledged the arguments of lawyers representing activist Arun Kumar Agrawal, who advocates for a full count of VVPAT slips in elections, as opposed to the verification of only five randomly-selected EVMs through VVPAT paper slips.
The court has issued notices to the Election Commission and the central government regarding the petition, which is likely to be heard on May 17. Senior lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Neha Rathi represented Agrawal.
The petition criticises the Election Commission’s guideline that VVPAT verification should be conducted sequentially.
It suggests that if verification is done concurrently and more officers are assigned for counting in each assembly constituency, then complete VVPAT verification could be accomplished within five to six hours.
The government has reportedly spent nearly Rs 5,000 crore on the purchase of approximately 24 lakh VVPATs. However, at present, only about 20,000 VVPAT slips are verified.
The petition emphasises that due to the numerous questions raised by experts about VVPATs and EVMs, and the significant number of discrepancies reported between EVM and VVPAT vote counts in the past, it is crucial that all VVPAT slips are counted. It also proposes that voters should be allowed to physically drop their VVPAT slip in the ballot box to ensure their vote is counted correctly.
The Supreme Court has issued the notice and linked it with ongoing matters on the issue.