Supreme Court Upholds Use of EVMs, Rejects Petitions for Paper Ballots

The Supreme Court of India on Friday dismissed multiple petitions calling for a thorough cross-verification of votes recorded by Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) against the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. A bench consisting of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta concluded that the existing procedures for ensuring the transparency and accuracy of elections are sufficient, thereby affirming the reliability of EVMs integrated with VVPAT systems.

During the announcement of the judgment, Justice Khanna emphasized the court’s decision to reject the petitions, including those advocating a return to traditional ballot paper systems in elections. The ruling consolidates trust in the electoral processes and technologies currently in place, which aim to safeguard the integrity of elections in India.

In addition to upholding the current voting mechanisms, the Supreme Court issued specific directions to enhance the security and credibility of the electoral process. Notably, the court mandated that containers carrying the symbol loading unit be sealed in the presence of polling agents and candidates and secured for 45 days. Furthermore, a provision has been made for the control unit, ballot unit, and VVPAT to be inspected by engineers from the manufacturing companies upon a written request within seven days following the election results.

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