All-party EC meet: Opposition demands return to paper ballot for 2019 polls

The Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress and other opposition parties flagged the issue of malfunctioning of EVMs

At an all-party meeting hosted by the Election Commission (EC) on Monday, the Congress-led alliance of several parties demanded a return to paper ballots for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, however, had opposed it. The EC later indicated it would work towards “satisfactory solution” to the Opposition’s suggestions.

The Congress also complained about 6 million ghost or fake voters in Madhya Pradesh and 4.5 million in Rajasthan electoral rolls and demanded a thorough revision. The two states, along with Chhattisgarah and Mizoram, are scheduled to go to polls by November-end.
 

The Congress asked the EC to make public specifications of electronic voting machines, or EVMs version 2, the older machine being used by the EC, and EVM version 3, the latest machine, to inspire confidence in the electorate.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said as many as 13 per cent of EVMs, according to the EC’s data, had malfunctioned during the Kairana Lok Sabha byelection in Uttar Pradesh on May 28. He said the EC should make public where these machines are repaired.

After the meeting, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said the EC will “definitely look into all the suggestions given” by political parties and “there will be a satisfactory solution to them”. The Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, and other Opposition parties flagged the issue of malfunctioning of EVMs as well as tampering and technical glitches in the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) system. NCP leader D P Tripathi said his party’s representative also raised the issue of lack of confidence in EVMs.

The Congress suggested that at least 30 per cent of EVMs in each constituency be matched with the paper audit trial, while the Aam Aadmi Party said it should be matched with at least 20 per cent EVMs. Currently, VVPATs are used in all polling stations, but results of EVMs and VVPATs are matched in one polling station per constituency.

“Nothing final has been decided yet, but one way to allay fears is to increase the number of constituencies where EVM and paper trail machine results are matched,” a senior EC official said after the meeting.

“Some of the parties said going back to ballot is really bad as it will bring back booth capturing...we don't want (that). At the same time, some parties said there are problems with EVMs, there are issues with VVPAT slip count so why not EC takes a call on this,” Rawat said.

Asked about the stand of the EC on EVMs and whether it remains the “same” as it was in the past, the Chief Election Commissioner dubbed it as a “hypothetical question”.

Singhvi said 70 per cent of political parties demanded that the EC revert to the old system of ballot paper during elections. The Congress also demanded that ceiling be imposed on the expenditure by political parties during poll campaign. Currently, there is only a ceiling for individual candidates, and not political parties.