Amidst controversy over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission on Friday issued directions for introducing the voting machine with a paper trail of the vote in the by-elections across the country including RK Nagar and Rajouri Garden Assembly Consti-
tuency in Delhi.
The BSP, AAP, SP and Congress, after the recent electoral reverses, have been targeting the election body over the EVMs and demanding reintroduction of paper ballots. They have called for putting an end to the use of EVMs.
The commission said that EVMs will be accompanied by Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) machines, which will print a ballot slip to show in whose favour the vote has been cast. The VVPAT, a machine with a printing unit, which is connected to the EVM, will print a ballot slip soon after the voter exercises his choice on the EVM.
According to the Commission, the voting would be held on VVPAT by elections at Dhemaji (ST), Assembly Constituency in Assam, Bhoranj (SC) Assembly Constituency in Himachal Pradesh, Ater and Bandhav-
garh Assembly Constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Kanthi Dakshin Assembly Constituency in West Bengal, Dholpur in Rajasthan, Nanjangud (SC) and Gudlupet Assembly Constituencies in Karnataka, Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency in Tamil Nadu, litipara (ST) in Jharkhand, Upper Burtuk Assembly Constituency in Sikkim and Rajouri Garden in of Delhi.
“In these constituencies a printer with a drop box shall be attached to voting machines to be used for the giving and recording of votes at the current by-elections to the legislative Assemblies,” the Commission said. The by-election in these Constituencies is scheduled for April 9.
The election body also approved the design of the printer with the drop box as developed by the Bharat Electronics ltd in Bangalore and Electronics Corporation of India ltd in Hyderabad for the printer.
In its notification, the Commission said “As per the provison to rule 49A of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, a printer with a drop box, as may be approved by the Election Commission of India, may also be attached to voting machine for printing a paper trail of the vote.”
The Commission had dismissed the claims of BSP supremo Mayawati and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who had questioned their reliability saying that the allegations
are “baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being
made which deserve to be rejected.”