18 April 2024 1:20 PM GMT
The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court that no mismatch has been detected ever between the votes counted in the Electronic Voting Machines and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips (VVPATs).
The ECI said that it has matched the EVM votes with more than 4 crore VVPAT slips and no instance of mismatch has been found so far. The ECI stated this in the written statement filed in response to the queries raised by the Supreme Court (on April 16) while hearing petitions seeking complete verification of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) data against the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips (VVPATs).
The bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved judgment in the matter today.
The queries raised by the Court and the ECI's responses are given below.
Issue 1. WHETHER ALL THE 3 UNITS AND VVPAT BU, CU WHICH ARE USED TOGETHER TO CONDUCT THE POLL STORED TOGETHER?
Yes. The Ballot Unit(BU), CU(Control Unit) and VVPAT together constitute the EVM and all three units are stored ED in the Strong Rooms after the election which is sealed in the presence of the candidates/their agents. The EVMs are stored for a period of at least 45 days in the Strong Rooms, i.e. the period for filing of Election Petitions.
Issue 2. WHETHER ANY SOFTWARE IS INSERTED IN VVPAT AT THE TIME OF SYMBOL LOADING?
Issue 3. PARTICIPATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES IN THE PROCESS OF DEPLOYMENT OF EVM - VVPATS.
Entire process from procurement of machines from BEL/ECIL till storage after counting is represented in Chart Form which is annexed as ANNEXURE - A from page 10 to 11. (Annexure A is available at the end of the story). Detailed procedures are provided in EVM Manual [Annexure - C/40 of ECI Counter at page 560 (Vol. II)].
Issue 4. WHETHER POLLING OFFICER HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE RESULT OF THE POLLING STATION DURING THE POLL DAY?
No. Polling Officer cannot see the Result as the "Result" button is sealed. Polling officer does not have the access to see the results on the poll day as prior to the start of actual polls the 'Result' section of Control Unit is sealed in the presence of the polling agents with their signatures affixed on the seals.
Issue 5. WHETHER, AFTER POLLING, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF TAMPERING OF EVMS?
Issue 6. WHAT ARE THE PENAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE ATTEMPT AT MANIPULATION WITH THE ELECTORAL PROCESS/EVM?
Issue 7. WHETHER CLOCK DATA (SHOWING THE DATE AND TIME WHEN THE VOTES WERE CAST) IS SHOWN TO THE CANDIDATES DURING COUNTING?
Control Unit has a clock that records time stamp for each vote. However, this data can be E retrieved only if Competent Court asks for the data as it will compromise the secrecy of ES voters by comparing data with the sequence of voters mentioned in Form-17A.
Issue 8. WHY DOES IT TAKE ONE HOUR TO COUNT VVPAT OF ONE POLLING STATION?
Issue 9. WHY THERE CAN BE NO MISMATCH BETWEEN VOTE POLLED AND VOTES COUNTED?
Issue 10. ISSUE OF SLIGHT TINT IN GLASS OF VVPAT
Right from the time of introduction of VVPAT, the window colour of VVPAT has been the same. Marginally tinted glass was used to maintain the secrecy of voting so that, even by mistake, anyone other than the voter is not able to view the paper slip easily.
Issue11. RESULT OF ALL VVPAT PAPER SLIP COUNTING DONE TILL DATE.
Issue 12. GROWTH IN NUMBER OF ELECTORS AND P MACHINES FROM 2019 ΤΟ 2024:
Issue 13. TECHNICAL EXPERTS COMMITTEE
Issue 14. WHETHER ECI REPLIED TO THE QUERIES OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REFERRED IN THE NEWS REPORT AT ANNEXURE P/16, PAGE- 434 OF WRIT PETITION NO. 184/2024 TITLED AS ARUN KUMAR AGRAWAL VS ECI
Reply was sent on 5 July, 2019
Issue 15. DISCREPANCY IN DATA MENTIONED IN NEWS REPORT OF QUINT [ANNEXURE P/17, PAGE- 436 OF WRIT PETITION NO. 184/2024 TITLED AS ARUN KUMAR AGRAWAL VS ECI]
Case Title: Association of Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 434 of 2023