The Supreme Court said Today (April 9th) it will hear on April 16 a batch of pleas seeking cross-verification of the votes cast with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India today scheduled to hear on April 16, a set of petitions advocating for a comprehensive cross-verification of votes cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. This method of verification allows voters to confirm their votes have been accurately recorded, addressing concerns about the fidelity of EVMs. VVPATs produce a paper trail that can be visually confirmed by the voter and stored securely for potential dispute resolution.
Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, presiding over the matter, have decided to bring all related pleas to the table for a detailed examination next Tuesday, just days ahead of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections commencing on April 19.
“All related pleas listed next Tuesday (April 16), for a detailed examination”
-Apex Court said.
The urgency of these petitions was underscored by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), leading to an expedited hearing timeline. Alongside ADR’s plea, the Court will also consider a petition from activist Arun Kumar Agrawal, which challenges the Election Commission and the Centre’s current protocol of matching VVPAT slips with EVM counts in only five randomly selected machines per assembly segment of each parliamentary constituency.
The petitioners argue for a more transparent verification process, enabling voters to not only see but also ensure that their votes are counted as they were cast. This demand stems from a perceived gap in the election process, where the current mechanism allows voters to see their VVPAT slips for approximately seven seconds without providing a means to verify that these votes are included in the final tally.
Highlighting a “complete vacuum in law,” the plea references the Election Commission of India’s lack of a formal procedure allowing voters to confirm their votes have been “counted as recorded.” This, according to the petitioners, contradicts the spirit of the Supreme Court’s directions in the landmark 2013 verdict in Subramanian Swamy versus Election Commission of India, which aimed to ensure voter confidence and verifiability in the electoral process.
As the nation gears up for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Supreme Court’s decision on these petitions could have significant implications for the transparency and integrity of India’s electoral system.
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