Supreme Court Upholds EVMs, Rejects Plea for Paper Ballots

The Supreme Court upheld the electronic voting machine (EVM) system and refused to revive paper ballots, stating that “blind distrust” of an institution or system can impede progress. The court also declined the petitioners’ suggestion to hand over paper slips from Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units to electors before inserting them into ballot boxes. It refused to intervene against Section 49 MA of the Conduct of Election Rules, which penalizes voters for complaints of mismatch between votes cast and counted.

The court suggested that the Election Commission explore the possibility of devising an electronic machine to count VVPAT paper slips. It also ordered Symbol Loading Units (SLU) to be sealed and secured after symbol loading into VVPATs from May 1, 2024. Furthermore, the court directed the verification of the birth memory of microcontrollers of five percent of EVMs in every assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency, initiated upon written request from second or third-place candidates within seven days of election results.