The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): A review petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of its April 26 judgment, which rejected demands to revert to the old paper ballot system and to fully cross-verify votes cast using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
Filed by Arun Kumar Agrawal through lawyer Neha Rathi on May 10, the plea argues that the April 26 order contains apparent errors. The petitioner calls for a review on several grounds, including the feasibility of counting all VVPAT paper slips in terms of time and manpower, the vulnerability of symbol loading units (SLU), and the percentage of VVPAT slips counted for tallying with EVM votes post the Chandrababu Naidu judgment.
The petition suggests that VVPAT slips can be accurately counted by machine rather than manually, which the Supreme Court mentioned as a possibility in its judgment. The plea insists that counting VVPAT slips is easier than regular paper ballots because they are thermally printed, making them easier to handle.
The plea asserts that EVMs do not allow voters to verify their votes, making them susceptible to tampering by insiders such as designers and technicians. The review petition claims that these issues were not adequately addressed in the Supreme Court’s previous decision and warrant a reassessment.
On April 26, a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta dismissed suspicions of EVM manipulation, deeming them “unfounded,” and upheld the security and reliability of EVMs. The court dismissed PILs calling for a return to the paper ballot system but allowed unsuccessful candidates to request verification of micro-controller chips in five percent of EVMs per assembly constituency upon payment of a fee.
The bench ruled that symbol loading units should be sealed and stored with the EVMs for 45 days post-election results. The court emphasized that EVMs are secure and simple, eliminating booth capturing and bogus voting. The incorporation of VVPAT, allowing voters to verify their votes, was highlighted as enhancing the electoral process’s accountability.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which began on April 19, will conclude with the announcement of results on June 4.