Manual vote counting prone to human error, mischief: Poll panel defends EVM

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has defended the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems in a recent affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court.

The ECI argued that manual counting of votes on such a large scale would be prone to human error and potential mischief.

"The counting of 100% VVPAT slips will be against the spirit of the use of EVM i.e. reverting back to paper ballot system," the poll panel said in its affidavit.

The affidavit was filed in response to a plea by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO seeking cross-verification of votes cast through VVPAT.

The ECI stated that since the introduction of VVPATs, over 118 crore voters have cast their votes with full satisfaction, and only 25 complaints have been received under Rule 49MA, (a voter who claims that the EVM or the paper trail machine did not record his or her vote correctly is allowed to cast a test vote), all of which were found to be false.

As per the affidavit, "VVPAT is essentially an 'audit trail' for the voter to instantaneously verify his or her vote cast in the ballot unit. However, based on the directions of the Hon'ble Apex Court, VVPATS slips are being cross-verified on a statistically robust sampling basis.

"Therefore, to press forward a ground for 100% verification of VVPAT slips is a regressive thought and tantamount only to going back indirectly to the days of manual voting using the ballot system," the affidavit reads.

The ECI further argued that the voter has no fundamental right to verify through VVPAT that their vote has been recorded as cast and counted as recorded.

According to the affidavit, "Time and again, EVMs have been subjected to various kinds of allegations related to technological and non-technological aspects by various stakeholders and others and most of such allegations have been examined by the constitutional courts several times."

"EVM has faithfully reflected the mandates of the people over these years, the courts have also always upheld its technological integrity and transparent procedural safeguards," the affidavit stated.

It also stated that the provisions of the Conduct of Election Rules do not violate any fundamental rights and have undergone judicial scrutiny many times, with their constitutionality being upheld consistently.

The ECI also assured the court of the security of EVMs, stating that each vote recorded elector-wise with date and time stamp can be retrieved using a decoder or printer based on court orders.

The Supreme Court will hear the matter in detail in November.