'We have not forgotten': SC after Prashant Bhushan suggests 'paper ballot' option while hearing EVM-VVPAT case
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New Delhi, April 16: Hearing several petitions seeking cross-verification of the votes cast with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), the Supreme Court on Tuesday pointed out issues with returning to the paper ballot for voting in general elections.
Appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), "advocate" Prashant Bhushan had argued saying most European countries, who went for voting with EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines), had gone back to the paper ballots system. In response, Justice Khanna said, "We are in our 60s. We all know what happened when there were ballot papers, you may have, but we have not forgotten".
Earlier, Bhushan said, "We can go back to paper ballots,” Bhushan said. “Another option is to give VVPAT slip to the voters in hand. Otherwise, the slips fall into the machine and the slip can be then given to the voter and it can be put into the ballot box. Then the VVPAT design was changed, it had to be transparent glass, but it was changed to dark opaque mirror glass where it is only visible when the light is on for second seconds".
🚨 Prashant Bhushan in Supreme Court : "Most European countries that had opted for voting through EVMs have now returned to the paper ballots"
— Times Algebra (@TimesAlgebraIND) April 16, 2024
JUSTICE KHANNA 🔥 : "We are in our 60s. We all know what happened when there were ballot papers, we have not forgotten, you might have… pic.twitter.com/eRCjtsMceW
The ADR, one of the petitioners, sought the top court's direction to the Election Commission and the Union government to ensure the voters can verify through VVPATs that their vote has been "counted as recorded".
The next hearing on the matter will be on Thursday.
What is VVPAT?
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system which enables an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly. It generates a paper slip which can be viewed by the voter. It is kept in a sealed cover and can be opened in case of a dispute.