Congress calls on adamant EC to reconsider opinion about EVMs

Batting for the implementation of the Ballot Paper system for conducting elections, the Congress on Friday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) should reconsider its opinion about the same.

Rubbishing the claim that the EVMs are tamper-proof, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said , in the affidavit submit by the Government in the Aadhaar case, it has mentioned that in today's world of technology, no machine is full proof which cannot be tampered.

"In a democracy, unbiased approach of the Election Commission is very important. Even if one person feels that his vote is not going to the party he voted for, then the EC should mull over the concern seriously. Many countries have opted ballot paper system over EVM system of voting," Singh told ANI.

The Congress leader asserted that the poll panel should reconsider its opinion about the EVM.

"What is the necessity of the EC to oppose the EVMs seized by the Uttarakhand High Court? Considering it on such a personal level will not be good for their unbiased approach," he said.

Welcoming the demand of implementing Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday said it has received the finances for buying the device and will have them activated by 2019 General Elections.

According to sources, the Election Commission said it would receive updated VVPATs in the time period stretching from August 2017 to September 2018.

The EC also asserted that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections would take place in the VVPAT format.

The Election Commission today convened an all-party meeting over the issue of EVM and other electoral reforms.

In its communication to the presidents of all the seven national and 48 state political parties, the Commission sent a status paper on EVMs and VVPAT.