New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 26) dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking reintroduction of physical ballot system for elections in India.
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice PB Varale dismissed the plea filed by Evangelist Dr KA Paul, who argued that majority of countries in the world follow the physical ballot system for elections and India should also consider this.
Even Elon Musk has said that EVMs can be tampered with, petitioner argued
Paul, while submitting that 180 out of 197 countries in the world are following physical ballot system, argued that “Even Elon Musk has said that EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) can be tampered with.” He also stated that 18 political parties in the country has supported physical ballot system.
What did the petitioner seek?
Besides seeking reintroduction of physical ballot system, Paul also sought a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to disqualify candidates at least for five years if they are found distributing liquor or anything, formulation of comprehensive policy to ensure prevention of use of money and liquor during election time and direction to Introduce voting education program to ensure that more people cast their votes.
Apex court earlier rejected submissions to revert to old system of physical ballot system
The apex court earlier, while hearing a plea seeking 100% cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), had rejected the submissions of the petitioners to revert to old system of physical ballot, saying EVMs are simple, secure and user-friendly and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting and directing reintroduction of the old paper ballot system, the court would be undoing the electoral reforms.
EVMs are simple, secure and user-friendly, Apex Court said in its April 26 verdict
“We have conducted an in-detail review of the administrative and technical safeguards of the EVM mechanism. Our discussion aims to address the uncertainties and provide assurance regarding the integrity of the electoral process. A voting mechanism must uphold and adhere to the principles of security, accountability, and accuracy. An overcomplex voting system may engender doubt and uncertainty, thereby easing the chances of manipulation. In our considered opinion, the EVMs are simple, secure and user-friendly,” the apex court had said in its April 26 verdict.
