Explain steps taken for free, fair polls: SC tells EC amid calls to issue VVPAT slips to voters

The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 18) pressed the need to ensure sanctity as the poll panel defended the election process amid calls for cross-verification of votes cast on EVMs with the VVPAT system paper slips.

“This is (an) electoral process. There has to be sanctity. Let nobody have apprehension that something which is expected is not being done," Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said.

The apex court also asked the Election Commission (EC) to explain at length the steps followed to ensure free and fair balloting.

Petitioners request issuance of VVPAT slips to voters

The court is hearing petitions seeking cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper slips generated through the VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) system.

Advocate Nizam Pasha, who appeared for the petitioners demanded that a voter should be allowed to take the VVPAT slip after he or she votes and deposit it in a ballot box.

When Justice Khanna asked if the same would affect voter’s privacy, Pasha said, “Voter privacy cannot be used to defeat voter's rights."

Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the light on the VVPAT machine should remain on at all times – it now stays on for only seven seconds. This will help the voters to see their paper slips falling into the box.

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, also appearing for the petitioners, said there should be a separate audit of the VVPAT slips to add more credibility to the counting process.

EVMs, VVPAT units

When Bhushan cited a report on mock poll results in Kerala where extra votes were recorded for the BJP, EC said the report was completely false.

The poll panel told the court that the EVM's control unit commands the VVPAT unit to print its paper slip. This slip is visible to the voter for seven seconds before it falls into a sealed box. The machines are checked before polling starts in the presence of engineers.

‘No software in VVPAT printer’

The EC said there was no software in the VVPAT printer.

"There is a 4-megabyte flash memory in every PAT which stores symbols. The returning officer prepares electronic ballot, which is loaded into the symbol loading unit. It will give a serial number, name of the candidate and symbol. Nothing is preloaded. It's not data, its image format."

Asked if the unit was sealed to prevent tampering, the poll panel admitted no such process was now in place.

Mock poll

The EC also said that all voting machines have passed through a mock poll process.

This involves candidates picking randomly five per cent of the EVMs. The process is repeated on polling day. VVPAT slips are taken out, counted and matched. All machines have different paper seals. At the time when a machine arrives for counting, the seal number can be checked, an official said.

The EC said that voting machines get allocated to constituencies randomly. "No spurious unit can be connected (to them). They will only recognise sister units."

It said the voting machines run on firmware and the program cannot be changed. The machines are kept in strong rooms that are locked in the presence of representatives of political parties.

Giving voters paper slip may compromise secrecy: EC

Once voting ends, the machines are taken back to strong rooms, which are sealed in the presence of candidates. On the vote counting day, these rooms are opened again in the presence of candidates.

The EC told the court that giving voters the paper slip would compromise the secrecy of the vote and may be misused outside the polling booth.

The Supreme Court said the issue was of trust.

"There seems to be some disconnect between what you are telling us and what is available in the public domain. That needs to be bridged," it said.

"We have nothing to hide," and EC official said.

‘Request to return to ballot paper a retrograde suggestion’

The EC counsel said the petitioners' request for a return to the ballot paper voting system was a "retrograde suggestion".

The court noted that a fine of Rs 500 for misconduct by a polling officer may not be adequate.

The VVPAT enables a voter to see if the vote was cast properly and went to the candidate he or she supports.

Currently, VVPAT slips of five randomly selected EVMs in every Assembly segment are verified. Critics say that every vote cast on EVM must be cross-verified.