The Supreme Court might issue a verdict today on petitions demanding the verification of all Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with votes cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). VVPAT is an independent voter verification system that ensures the voter's ballot is correctly recorded.
Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, presiding over the bench, could potentially update the nation today on the ruling preserved by the apex court since April 18. Stressing the importance of voter satisfaction and trust within the electoral system, the Supreme Court during the hearing remarked that not every aspect should be approached with suspicion.
Demand for Transparency
Highlighting the significance of voter satisfaction and confidence, the apex court underscored that it's not necessary to doubt everything nor for petitioners to critique every aspect of EVMs. One of the petitioners, NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms' (ADR), has demanded the reversal of the Election Commission's 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque one, restricting the voter's view of the slip to the duration of the activated light (seven seconds).
The Court's Statement
During the nearly two-day hearing, the bench discussed EVM operations with Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas for almost an hour and reminded lawyer Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, that the crux of the electoral process is voter satisfaction and trust.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, asserted that EVMs are standalone units impenetrable to tampering, though not immune to human error. On April 16, the top court denounced the criticism of EVMs and demands for a return to paper ballots, declaring that conducting elections in India is
