SC Issues Notice to ECI On Plea for 100% EVM Votes-VVPAT Verification

A petition was filed with the Supreme Court requesting comprehensive counting of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips in elections, challenging the current practice of verifying only 5 randomly selected Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency. The Supreme Court issued notice on Monday regarding the same.

Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order, connecting this petition with another plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, which seeks similar reliefs. Petition further challenges the Election Commission's guideline mandating sequential VVPAT verification, arguing it causes undue delays. It suggests that simultaneous verification and increased deployment of officers could complete VVPAT verification in 5-6 hours per assembly constituency. 

Petitioner highlights the considerable investment in VVPATs and the limited verification of VVPAT slips currently conducted. With concerns raised by experts regarding VVPATs and EVMs, and reported differences between EVM and VVPAT vote counts, the petitioner insists on thorough verification to ensure voter confidence.

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The petitioner seeks four reliefs:

1. Respondent ECI mandatorily cross verify the count in EVMs with votes that have been verifiably 'recorded as cast' by the voter through the VVPATs by counting all VVPAT paper slips.
2. Guideline No. 14.7(h) of the Manual on Electronic Voting Machine and VVPAT dated August, 2023 as framed and issued by Election Commission of India be quashed, in so far as it allows only sequential verification of VVPAT slips resulting in undue delay in counting of all VVPAT slips;
3. ECI allow voter to physically drop VVPAT slip as generated by the VVPAT in a ballot box to ensure that the voter's ballot has been 'counted as recorded'; and/or
4. That the respondents make the glass of the VVPAT machine transparent and duration of the light long enough for the voter to see the paper recording his vote cut and drop into the drop box.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan and Neha Rathi represented the petitioner. Earlier, the Election Commission of India, responding to a similar petition by the ADR, cited practical difficulties in verifying all VVPATs. A bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna expressed reservations about the demand for 100% VVPAT verification, citing the added burden on the ECI without significant advantage.