What Poll Panel Chief Had Said On EVMs

New Delhi:

The Election Commission’s strong defence of the electronic voting machines in the Supreme Court – which contributed to a decision in favour of the current electoral process – followed a vote of confidence by the Chief Election Commissioner, who had used a mix of poetry and facts to assert that there were no lacunae in the system.

Announcing the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on March 16, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar had pointed out that constitutional courts had upheld the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) 40 times. 

Holding up a book, Mr Kumar had said, “There have been 40 cases on EVMs and the high courts and Supreme Courts have looked into them. All of them have been rejected. There are frequently answered questions and flowcharts in this book as well, and it is available on our website. There are several experts in this country… anyone becomes an expert… they should at least read this.”

“There is a chart which shows the number of times ruling parties have lost after voting on EVMs. Political parties have come into existence because of EVMs, which may not have happened in the age of ballots… because of fairness. And political parties know this in their heart. EVMs are 100% safe, 100% sure,” he stressed.

The CEC also launched into poetry while defending the electronic voting process, “Agar EVM bol sakti to kya bolti – jisne mere sar par tohmat rakhi hai, maine uske ghar ki bhi laaj rakhi hai.”

This loosely translates to “If the EVM could speak, what would it say – I have maintained the modesty of even those who tried to bring shame upon me.”

Continuing with the poetry, but adding a dash of sarcasm, Mr Kumar went on to say, “Adhoori hasrato ka ilzaam har bar hum par lagana theek nahin, wafa khud se nahi hoti, khata EVM ki kehte ho, aur baad mein jab parinam aata hai toh uspe qayam bhi nahi rehte.” 

Implying that parties which did not work hard enough blamed the EVMs for their unfulfilled desires, and that it was not right to do so, Mr Kumar said in the couplet that some sang a different tune after results went in their favour. 

What The Supreme Court Said

In separate but concurring judgments, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta rejected petitions seeking 100% cross-verification votes cast on EVMs through paper slips generated by Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. The current method provides for cross-verification being done for five randomly selected EVMs in every Assembly constituency.

The bench said it had come to its conclusions after referring to the protocols that were in place, technical aspects and the data placed on the record.

“While balanced perspective is important, blindly doubting a system can breed scepticism and thus, meaningful criticism is needed, be it judiciary, legislature etc. Democracy is all about maintaining harmony and trust among all the pillars,” Justice Datta said in his judgment.