The Election Commission (EC) has decided to hold a live demo of Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) and EVMs and explain how they function. The demonstrations, to be held on Saturday, are an attempt to prove that the machines are infallible.
Amid allegations of EVM tampering, EC has scheduled a press conference on the “EVM challenge” tomorrow.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has levelled several allegations of EVM tampering during recent elections with support from several other opposition parties including Congress, BSP, RJD and Mamta Banerjee’s TMC.
Last week, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj gave a live demo in the special session of Delhi Constituent Assembly about how easily EVMs can be manipulated, on a ‘similar’ machine.
He challenged EC and asked for just 90 seconds with EVM for fiddling.
In response to Arvind Kejriwal’s questioning of the independence of two election commissioners, CEC Nasim Zaidi said the EC stands equidistant from all the parties.
“You should be convinced that EC has no favourites… we maintain equidistance from all parties and groups. It is our constitutional and moral duty to stand dead centre of the circle drawn around us by 56 political parties.”
After the allegations from 16 opposition parties, an all-party meeting was also called by the Commission.
After the daylong meet, EC decided that VVPAT machines will be used in all upcoming elections so that voters can verify with the help of the paper slip whether the vote has indeed gone to the party that they voted for.
The paper slips can also be used to resolve any dispute arising in an election.
The EC has refuted all such charges and is likely to throw the ‘open challenge’ to all political parties this month to prove the tampering of the machines.
