SC for more VVPAT matching in polls; tells EC no institution should insulate itself from improvement

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission to consider increasing the number of rechecks of EVM counts with VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails) in the upcoming elections to satisfy all stakeholders. It brushed aside claims that this “isn’t required” because electronic voting machine (EVM) and VVPAT counts have always tallied.

Over 20 opposition party leaders had moved the court, seeking physical verification of at least 50% of the votes cast on EVMs to ensure the purity of the process.

The court asked the EC to place its views on this matter in an affidavit by Thursday. It will hear the case on April 1 and if cleared, wider use of VVPATs could come into effect in the polls starting on April 11.


Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, assisted by lawyer Amit Bhandari, argued for the opposition parties that wider use of VVPATs would at the most delay the declaration of results by three to four hours and would boost the credibility of the process.

The EC said on March 10 that VVPATs would be used along with EVMs at every polling station in all states and Union Territories in the upcoming elections. It also mandated VVPAT slip count of one randomly selected polling station in each assembly constituency (in case of assembly elections) and one randomly selected polling station of each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency.