1. EC assures Jairam Ramesh that current EVMs comply with established legal frameworks.
2. This response follows concerns raised by the INDIA bloc regarding EVMs and VVPATs.
3. The EC emphasizes adherence to legal frameworks in its communication to address doubts about the integrity of voting machines.
New Delhi, Jan 06: The Election Commission (EC) has reassured Congress leader Jairam Ramesh that the current Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in use during elections comply with the legal framework established by successive Union governments.
The EC responded to concerns raised by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, which submitted a memorandum questioning the use of EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs).
While the EC updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on EVMs, it did not directly address the specific concerns raised by the parties. The response emphasized that the current EVMs adhere to the legal framework and jurisprudence developed over more than 40 years by the Constitutional Courts of India.
The EC also cited dismissals by the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court in three different cases against EVMs and VVPATs, imposing costs on petitioners for filing frivolous applications.
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The INDIA bloc, on December 19, passed a resolution expressing concerns about EVM integrity and urged the EC to allow all voters to verify their VVPAT slips.
They proposed a system where voters receive the VVPAT slip, verify their choice, and place it in a separate ballot box for 100% counting.
The EC increased the number of FAQs around EVMs to address questions about VVPAT slips’ properties, inclusion timelines, origin tracing, and battery-related scenarios during voting.
VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency are currently tallied with the electronic count of corresponding control units to ensure a strong correlation between the votes cast and counted.
The EC highlighted that the introduction of VVPATs followed a 2013 Supreme Court judgment, ensuring a paper trail for free and fair elections. The response also addressed concerns about the seven-second visual display in VVPAT machines, citing an increase from five seconds following suggestions in a 2013 All-Party Meeting.
The EC clarified that the VVPAT slip, made of thermal paper, can retain printed information for about five years when stored correctly.
It includes candidate details such as serial number, name, party or symbol, session number, and VVPAT ID, allowing identification of the source VVPAT.
The EC’s response aims to address and clarify various aspects of EVMs and VVPATs, emphasizing their adherence to legal frameworks and measures to ensure accuracy and reliability in the electoral process.
