My Home State’s Population More Than Germany’s”: Judge’s View on Ballot vs EVM in Supreme Court

The population of my home state West Bengal is larger than that of Germany, stated Justice Dipankar Datta. He emphasized the importance of trust in the system and discouraged the use of European examples in the Indian context. During a court hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan advocated for the counting and matching of VVPAT paper slips with the EVM results, citing Germany’s example.

However, when questioned about the population of Germany, his estimation was considerably lower than the actual figure. Justice Sanjiv Khanna intervened, highlighting drawbacks in the ballot voting method and recalling past experiences. The VVPAT, or Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail, allows voters to verify that their votes were cast correctly and for their chosen candidate.

It generates a paper slip that can be used to address disputes. Amid concerns about the EVM system, petitions have been filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and activist Arun Kumar Agarwal. Mr. Agarwal has called for the counting of all VVPAT slips, while the ADR’s petition urges the Election Commission and the Centre to ensure that voters can verify through VVPATs that their votes have been accurately recorded.

The petition emphasizes the need for transparency and accountability in the voting process.