The Supreme Court on April 26 rejected pleas for reviving paper ballots and also 100 per cent cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), holding that suspicions regarding tampering of the voting machines were unfounded.

The Supreme Court said the EVMs were secure and eliminates booth capturing and bogus voting.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said the plea for return to the ballot paper system was foible and unsound, noting that the weakness of this system was well known and documented. 

Advantages of the EVM-VVPAT mechanism noted by the SC:

i) It runs on battery/power-packs and does not require any external power supply.

ii) Voting is done by pressing a button thereby negating a scenario of invalid vote akin to an invalid paper ballot.

iii) It does not permit more than four votes per minute, thereby deterring and disincentivising booth capturing. 

iv) After the pressing of the ‘Close’ button on the control unit, there is no possibility of voting.

v) It ensures quick, error-free and mischief-free counting of votes.

vi) The voter is instantly able to verify the recording of their vote through the beep sound. Further, the VVPAT slip helps verify that the vote casted is recorded correctly.

vii) By pressing the ‘Total’ button on the Control Unit at any time, the total number of votes polled up to the time of pressing the button is displayed, without indicating the candidate-wise result of votes.

viii) The original program, which is political party and candidate agnostic, is ported on to the microcontroller of the EVM during the manufacturing at the factory. This process is done way before the elections and it is impossible to know the serial number of any candidate in advance. Thus, it is not possible to pre-program the EVM in a spurious manner. 

Other points noted by the SC bench:

• This issue at hand of doubting the efficacy of the EVMs has been previously raised before the Supreme Court. 

• Going forward, unless substantial evidence is presented against the EVMs, the current system will have to persist with enhancements. 

• Regressive measures to revert to paper ballots or any alternative to the EVMs that does not adequately safeguard the interests of Indian citizens have to be eschewed.

• While maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial in evaluating systems or institutions, blindly distrusting any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism and impede progress.

• Instead, a critical yet constructive approach, guided by evidence and reason, should be followed to make room for meaningful improvements and to ensure the system's credibility and effectiveness.

• Be it the citizens, the judiciary, the elected representatives, or even the electoral machinery, democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all its pillars through open dialogue, transparency in processes, and continuous improvement of the system by active

participation in democratic practices. Our approach should be guided by evidence and reason to allow space for meaningful improvements. 

• By nurturing a culture of trust and collaboration, we can strengthen the foundations of our democracy and ensure that the voices and choices of all citizens are valued and respected. With each pillar fortified, our democracy stands robust and resilient.

History of transition from paper ballot system to EVMs

• In the paper ballot system, the list of contesting candidates is printed on a paper (ballot paper) along with serial number, name and symbol of the candidates. There is a specific space allocated for each contesting candidate where a vote can be cast by voter by putting a mark. 

• Thereafter, a voter needs to fold the ballot paper in a specified manner and to deposit in the ballot box. 

• For counting votes obtained by that candidate, only correctly marked votes are counted.

Some of the major issues with ballot paper voting are that:

i) Many votes become invalid due to improper marking/ink smudging.

ii) Ballot boxes are also susceptible to “stuffing with spurious votes” by capturing the booth. 

iii) Voting with pre-marked ballot papers. 

iv) Manual counting of votes is prone to errors and takes a lot of days.

• The idea of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was first conceived in 1977.

• The Election Commission assigned the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), Hyderabad the task to design and develop it. In 1979 a prototype was developed, which was demonstrated by the Election Commission before the representatives of political parties on August 6, 1980. 

• The Bharat Electronic Ltd (BEL), Bangalore was co-opted along with ECIL to manufacture EVMs once a broad consensus was reached on its introduction.

• EVMs were used for the first time in Paravur assembly constituency in Ernakulam district during the elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly held in May 1982. The EVMs were used only in 50 booths out of the total 123 booths in Paravur.

• However, the absence of a specific law prescribing its use led to the Supreme Court striking down that election. 

• Subsequently, in 1989, the Parliament amended the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to create a provision for the use of EVMs in the elections. 

• A general consensus on its introduction could be reached only in 1998 and these were used in 25 Legislative Assembly constituencies spread across three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. 

• The entire state of Goa voted with EVMs to elect a new state Assembly in June 1999.

• Its use was further expanded in 1999 to 45 Parliamentary Constituencies. 

• In the state Assembly elections held in May 2001, in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal, EVMs were used in all the Assembly Constituencies. 

• In 2004, in the General Election to the Lok Sabha, the EVMs (more than one million) were used in all Parliamentary Constituencies in the country.

How the EVM works?

• Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is a device used to electronically record and count votes cast in elections. 

• The Indian EVM system is also termed as ECI-EVM, meaning an EVM specifically designed, manufactured and used for elections as per election procedure and rules framed by Election Commission of India.

• EVM consists of Ballot Unit (BU), Control Unit (CU) and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). 

• EVMs come under the overall category of Direct Recording Electronic voting machine systems, which is one of the many voting methodologies available worldwide.

• In the ECI-EVM system of voting, the Control Unit is placed with the Presiding Officer and the Ballot Unit(s) and VVPAT are placed inside the Voting Compartment. 

• Instead of issuing a ballot paper, the Polling Officer in-charge of the Control Unit releases the electronic ballot by pressing the “Ballot Button” on the Control Unit. This enables the voter to cast his/her vote by pressing the “blue button” (Candidate button) on the Ballot Unit against the candidate of his/her choice.

• When the voter presses a button against the candidate of his/her choice on the Ballot Unit, a red LED glows against the chosen candidate’s button on BU.

• A paper slip showing the serial number, name and the symbol of the candidate of his/her choice is generated and is visible for about seven  seconds through the transparent window of VVPAT. Hence the voter is able to see the “printed slip” and verify that vote is cast as per his/her choice.

• Thereafter, the printed paper slip gets cut automatically and stored in a  sealed drop box of VVPAT. A loud beep is heard from the Control Unit which confirms that the vote is registered successfully. 

• EVMs and VVPATs do not require any external power supply. EVM and VVPAT run on their own battery/ power-packs.

• In 2019, about 61.4 crore voters had cast their votes in 10.35 lakh polling stations. As many as 23.3 lakh ballot units, 16.35 lakh control units and 17.40 lakhs VVPAT units were used in the 2019 General Elections. 

• For the purpose of the 2024 General Elections, 10.48 lakh polling stations have been established to enable 97 crore registered voters to cast their votes. As many as 21.60 lakh ballot units, 16.80 lakh control units and 17.7 lakh VVPAT units have been made ready for being used.

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