The Aryavarth Express
Agency(Chennai): As the Lok Sabha polls approach, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, DMK, has submitted a writ petition to the Madras High Court regarding electronic voting machines (EVMs). The petition alleges tampering with data integrity through a printer connection between the Balloting Unit and Control Unit, which violates electoral rules.
DMK contends that this connection contradicts the Representation of People Act, 1951, and the rules established in 1961. Additionally, they highlight a lack of provision for addressing discrepancies in Form 17C within the current scheme.
Expressing apprehensions about the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) oversight and transparency, the petition emphasizes that decisions concerning the complexities of EVMs should not be solely governed by the internal processes of the ECI.
Previously, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India and the Centre following a petition advocating for the counting of all Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips in elections, challenging the current practice of verifying only 5 randomly selected EVMs in each assembly segment.
The petition also challenges the ECI’s sequential verification guideline, proposing simultaneous verification to expedite the process. It suggests that with additional officers and simultaneous verification, complete VVPAT verification could be completed in 5-6 hours.
The petition highlights discrepancies in VVPAT verification despite significant investment in VVPATs, urging the ECI to cross-verify the count in EVMs with votes recorded by VVPATs. It seeks a directive for mandatory cross-verification of all VVPAT paper slips to ensure electoral integrity.