The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) whether it can provide electronic voting machines (EVM) with VVPATs (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) to the state election commission to conduct upcoming municipal elections. Justice Rekha Palli asked the ECI’s counsel to take instructions on this aspect and also asked its officers concerned to be present before March 24 for assisting it.
Court observation came after counsel representing the State Election Commission submitted that we have no objection in using the machines with paper trails if avails. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has recently moved Delhi High Court seeking court’s direction to State Election Commission, Delhi not to conduct the upcoming elections for the Municipal Corporations of Delhi with M-2 EVMs without VVPAT and use such EVMs instead which are compatible with VVPAT.
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The Petitioner AAP through its MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj stated that the EVMs without the VVPAT machines make it almost impossible to ascertain the accuracy of the machines and rule out any tampering. The use of the old M-2 EVMs without VVPAT is in contravention of the express directions issued by the Supreme Court in the Subramanian Swamy vs Election Commission case which emphatically recognized that the incorporation and implementation of a system of paper trail in EVMs is an indispensable requirement of free and fair elections, stated the plea.
Petitioner is aggrieved by the response from State Election Commission (Delhi) on March 7 which stated that the Delhi Municipal Elections 2022 will be held using M-2 EVMs without VVPAT, said the plea. The decision to conduct the 2022 MCD Election using M-2 EVMs without VVPAT is wholly illegal, arbitrary, perverse, whimsical, and amounts to a colourable exercise of power, read the petition.
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