Civil society campaign launched to bring greater transparency in electoral process

A civil society platform Tuesday sought removal of provisions in an electoral law that penalises a voter if the complaint filed by the person on malfunctioning of an EVM is found to be false.

A group of well-known activists came together under one banner to launch a campaign to press to the Election Commission for counting of "100 per cent VVPAT slips", hours after the Supreme Court rejected the VVPAT review plea of 21 opposition leaders led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

In a statement, the civil society said the court's rejection of the opposition plea to increase the EVM paper trail count "has been dictated more by practical considerations than the principle we are striving to uphold, which in very simple terms means that the paper trail is the tangible expression of the voting rights of each individual and not the EVM machine".

The campaign -- Count Every Vote -- was launched in the presence of former member, Planning Commission, Syeda Hameed, CPI MP D Raja and activists Nikhil Dey and Gouhar Raza, among others.

"We have been pressing for counting of at least 50 per cent of VVPAT slips. And we will continue our efforts to bring greater transparency to the electoral process. We feel that even if one fault is found through one VVPAT count, entire assembly segment should have a repoll," Raja told reporters.

The civil society platform, known as 'People's Agenda', also sought removal of penalising provisions in Section 49 MA of the Conduct of Election (Amendment) 2013.

Under the Section 49 MA of the Conduct of Elections (Amendment) 2013, the Election Commission is empowered to penalise a voter, if the complaint filed by the person on malfunctioning of an EVM is found to be false.

"The penalising provisions under this rule are likely to have a chilling effect on any potential complainant and dissuade voters from registering complaints of malfunction," the statement said.