Judge on Ballot vs EVM: My Home State’s Population Exceeds Germany’s, Supreme Court on VVPAT and EVM

The population of my home state West Bengal exceeds that of Germany. During a court hearing, Justice Dipankar Datta emphasized the importance of trust in the system and discouraged the use of European examples in the context of India. This response was prompted by Advocate Prashant Bhushan’s mention of Germany’s population and the need for counting VVPAT paper slips in relation to EVM results.

Justice Datta questioned Bhushan about the population of Germany, to which the advocate estimated it to be around 5 crore, contrasting it with India’s 50-60 crore voters. Justice Sanjiv Khanna intervened, noting India’s 97 crore registered voters and highlighting drawbacks in the traditional ballot voting method, recalling past issues associated with it. The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) allows voters to verify the accuracy of their vote and provides a paper slip that can be used in case of disputes.

Amid concerns from the opposition regarding the EVM system, petitions have been filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and activist Arun Kumar Agarwal to facilitate cross-verification of every vote. Arun Kumar Agarwal’s petition calls for the counting of all VVPAT slips, while ADR’s petition seeks the court’s direction to ensure that voters can verify their votes through VVPATs. The petition acknowledges the seven-second display time of the VVPAT slip after pressing the EVM button but emphasizes the need for a more robust verification process.