Order Counting Of EVM Paper Trails In Vengara, Gurudaspur Polls: Plea In SC [Read Petition]

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission to take urgent steps to count the entire paper trails coming out from the VVPATs of EVMs in the forthcoming byelection scheduled on October 11, 2017 in Punjab (Gurudaspur) and Kerala (Vengara).

The petitioner Sabu Stephen, a social activist wants a  comparison of the counts of paper trails with the result of EVM, and if there is any difference, finalise the counting of paper trails as the final result.

The VVPATs are electronic voting machines in which when a button is pressed to choose a candidate on a voting machine, a slip of paper shows the party symbol of the candidate selected.

The receipt is visible to the voter for a few seconds before it drops into a sealed box. The voter can satisfy himself that his choice has been correctly recorded in an EVM. In case the results of an election is questioned, as happened  after the assembly elections in five states held earlier this year, the VVPAT slips can be used to double check on the announced results.

The polling in Gurudaspur and Vengara will be held on October 11 and counting of votes will be on October 15.

“The plea is to enhance the trust in the minds of the citizens of India in the electoral process of the largest democratic country of this world, under the spirit of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India”, said the petition filed through advocate V K Biju.

“That, voting is a fundamental right. The heart of democracy is voting. The heart of voting is trust that each vote is recorded and counted with accuracy and impartiality. Voting is a statutory right under the Representation of People Act 1951 and fundamental rights in India under Article 19(1)(a) to know the antecedent of the candidates contesting for the election. A voter has the right to know whether his/her vote has been recorded and counted. Today, a voter in India do not know whether his/her vote has been recorded or counted with accuracy and impartiality. There is no proof and there is no accountability”, said the petition.

“The Constitution of India casts an important constitutional duty and responsibility to the Election Commision of India to impart and implement the democratic rights of the citizens of India under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India”, it said.

“The Representation of People Act 1951 and the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 cast a duty and responsibility to the Election Commision of India for a smooth and trustworthy electoral process.