Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Supreme Court rejects petitions seeking 100% verification of EVM votes with VVPAT slips

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected petitions seeking 100 per cent verification of votes cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs) with voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips, stating that "blindly distrusting" any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism. "Democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions," said the bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta while also dismissing a separate plea seeking to go back to ballot papers in elections.

The verdict came as voting was underway in several parts of the country under the second phase of a seven-phase, six-weeks-long polling process to elect a new government at the Centre.

Here are five things to know about this big story:

• The top court gave two directions:
  • After the completion of the symbol loading process, the symbol loading unit (SLU) should be sealed and stored in strong rooms for at least 45 days 
  • EVM engineers may verify the microcontroller system after the declaration of the results on requests of candidates emerging second and third in the contest; such requests will need to be made by candidates within seven days after the declaration of results

• The verdict by the two-judge bench was unanimous. The petitions had claimed the polling devices could be tinkered with to manipulate the results.

• On April 24, the bench had said it couldn't "control the elections" or issue directions simply because doubts were raised about the efficacy of EVMs.

• An EVM comprises three units, all of which are embedded with microcontrollers that have a burnt memory from the manufacturer. Currently, VVPATs are used in five booths per Assembly constituency.

• The country has been using electronic voting machines extensively since 2000 to record votes in the world's largest election. The counting of votes in the 2024 general elections is set to take place on June 4. 

What are EVMs?

EVMs are special devices that enable electors to cast their votes by pressing one of the blue buttons placed against the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate of their choice, apart from the option of "none of the above". The device includes a thick, rectangular device used to electronically record votes cast in elections. 

An EVM has three units:

• Ballot unit
• Control unit
• Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit

What does the VVPAT unit do?

This unit produces a paper slip visible to the voter via a transparent screen for about seven seconds before it gets stored in a sealed drop box. The control unit is placed next to the officer-in-charge while the other two units are kept in a voting compartment for voters to make their choice privately.

The whole setup is without any wired or wireless connectivity outside the system.

When were EVMs first used in India?

EVMs were first used in the country for a by-election to the Parur assembly seat of Kerala in 1982. It was deployed widely in the country from 2000 onwards.

Why EVMs?

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), EVMs help in overcoming issues like invalid votes due to improper marking or ink smudging in paper ballots and stuffing of ballot boxes with spurious votes or pre-marked ballot papers. Manual counting of ballots is "prone to errors and mischief and takes a lot of days", according to the poll agency. 

With inputs from agencies