Supreme Court To Hear Verification Votes Through VVPAT Slips On April 16

New Delhi, 9th April 2024: The Supreme Court stated on Tuesday that it would hear on April 16 the petitions demanding verification of votes cast with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Deepak Gupta couldn’t hear the petitions related to EVMs on Tuesday. However, the bench stated that it would consider all the petitions related to the matter for hearing next Tuesday.

It’s worth noting that the Lok Sabha elections in the country are commencing from April 19, to be held in seven phases. Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan had demanded an urgent hearing in this matter from the Supreme Court, following which the court had stated on April 3 that it would hear the plea filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms along with other cases next week. VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) is an independent verification system that allows voters to verify if their vote has been cast correctly.

Through this system, a paper slip is generated from the machine, which the voter can see. This slip is then kept in a sealed envelope and can be opened in case of a dispute. It’s noteworthy that on April 1, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Election Commission and the Central Government on a plea filed by petitioner Arun Kumar Agrawal.

The plea demanded a full count of VVPAT slips, which is contrary to the current practice of randomly selecting five EVMs from each Assembly segment in a parliamentary constituency for matching the slips. Both petitions will now be heard on April 16. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has urged the court to direct the Election Commission and the Central government to ensure that voters can verify through VVPATs that their votes have been accurately recorded.

Highlights
– The first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled
for April 19th.
– Verification of votes by voters through VVPAT.
– The court has sought responses from the Election Commission and the
Central government.