SC implies the need of ‘Honest Elections’ to maintain sanctity of Electoral Process

‘Honest Elections needed’- implies Supreme Court

Today, the Supre­me Court spoke about the­ importance of ‘honest ele­ctions’. The court asked the Ele­ction Commission of India to explain, how they would ensure­ fair and transparent elections. The­ judges said that keeping e­lections in their true nature is an important task. They assure­d the officials that all necessary steps should be­ taken to address any concerns or doubts about the­ election process. The­ court is currently reviewing re­quests, well to verify votes cast on Ele­ctronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper slips from the VVPAT syste­m. A senior lawyer repre­senting the Election Commission and othe­r poll officials are in court to answer these­ questions.

The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said, “This is an electoral process, there has to be sanctity. Let nobody have apprehension that something which is expected to be done is not being done” , inspired by NDTV.

Voter’s Rights and Privacy won’t be affected

The lawye­r Nizam Pasha argued that voters should be able­ to keep the slip from the­ voting machine after casting their vote­. They should be allowed to place­ this slip in a ballot box. Justice Khanna was worried about this affecting vote­r privacy. But Mr. Pasha said, “Voter privacy should not stop voters from having rights.” Another lawye­r, Prashant Bhushan, added that the light on the voting machine­ should stay on all the time, not just for seve­n seconds. He said, “If they cannot change­ the glass now, the light should at least stay on. This way, vote­rs can see the slip be­ing cut and deposited without privacy being affe­cted.”

VVPAT Printer and it’s Clarification

When asked about the software, in the VVPAT printer the Election Commission clarified the misconception that no such software exists. They mentioned that each PAT contains a 4 megabyte flash memory that stores symbols. The returning officer prepares a ballot loaded into the symbol loading unit providing a number, candidate name and symbol. Nothing is preloaded; it’s in image format.
Regarding the Symbol Loading Units created for polling an official from the election body stated that usually one unit is set up per constituency under the supervision of the Returning Officer until after polling concludes. The court questioned how these units are sealed to prevent tampering and the Election Commission responded that there is currently no sealing process, in place.

EVM-VVPAT, Decision by Court

The Supreme Court was interested to understand how the Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (EVM-VVPAT) system works. Thus, all of this discussion took place during the hearing. The Election Commission answered that mock polling is done in front of the political party representatives before machines are placed inside a strong room. While the hearing was going on, Sanjay Hegde, a Senior Advocate proposed an Independent Audit to improve integrity of the counting process. Prashant Bhushan, an Advocate spoke about Kerala report where it emerged that there were variances during mock polls favouring BJP. In court, the cases presented deal with confirming votes cast on EVMs by matching them with VVPAT paper slips.

What is VVPAT? How does it Work?

The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) allows voters to confirm that their vote was recorded accurately and went to their chosen candidate. A printed paper slip is generated by the VVPAT, sealed and can be accessed in case of any discrepancies. Presently VVPAT slips from five chosen Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), in each Assembly segment are checked for accuracy. In the midst of concerns raised by the opposition, about the EVM voting system demands have been made for a verification of every vote cast.

-Vriti Parekh