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Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition filed in the public interest seeking the reintroduction of ballot papers for elections in India. The court observed that whenever a party loses an election, it blames the electronic voting machines.

 

Earlier, on Apr. 26, ahead of the general election, the court had similarly rejected petitions seeking a return to voting by ballot paper. It had also dismissed the idea of allowing voters to take the voter verifiable paper audit trail slips and depositing them in ballot boxes.

 

On Tuesday, Justice Vikram Nath said, "What happens is, if you win the elections, EVMs (electronic voting machines) are not tampered (with). When you lose elections, EVMs are tampered (with). When (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered (with). Now, this time, (former Andhra Pradesh chief minister) Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered (with)."

 

The court made the remark when petitioner Dr. K.A. Paul cited tweets by Naidu in 2019, pointing to the possibility of electronic voting machines being tampered with following his Telugu Desam Party's defeat in the general elections that year.

 

The petitioner said he had been to 155 countries and every country in the world votes on ballot paper. "Every democracy in the world, if you see, (has a physical ballot paper). Every country... So, we are protecting democracy," the petitioner said.

 

Meanwhile, the Congress party Tuesday demanded the reintroduction of voting by ballot paper in the country. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge suggested launching a movement in favour of ballot papers. "We don't want electronic voting machines. Leave them. We will vote on ballot papers... Give us the paper ballot and you will realise where you stand and what is your condition," Kharge said at the Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyan function organised by the Congress on the occasion of Constitution Day in New Delhi.

 

The Congress president said there should be a campaign like the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which was led by Rahul Gandhi, now leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He also appealed to other political parties to join this campaign.

 

The Congress had also blamed electronic voting machines for its defeat in the Haryana assembly elections in October. On Oct. 9, a delegation of the party gave a formal complaint to the Election Commission of India of tampering with electronic voting machines and manipulation during counting in at least 20 constituencies in Haryana.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi and Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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