Judge Discusses Population Disparity Between Home State and Germany in Ballot vs EVM Case

The population of my home state, West Bengal, is higher than that of Germany, Justice Dipankar Datta pointed out. He emphasized the need to place trust in someone and cautioned against attempting to undermine the system. Referring to European examples, specifically Germany, was dismissed by the Justice, who stressed that such examples were not applicable in this context.

During the court proceedings, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the Association for Democratic Reforms, cited Germany’s population as part of the argument for counting and comparing VVPAT paper slips with EVM results. However, when Justice Datta inquired about Germany’s population, Bhushan stated it to be around 5 crores, contrasting it with India’s 50-60 crore voters. Justice Sanjiv Khanna intervened, noting that India has 97 registered voters and highlighted the shortcomings of the ballot voting method.

The VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) was explained as a system that allows voters to confirm if their vote was accurately cast for their chosen candidate. A paper slip generated by the VVPAT is sealed and can be examined in case of a dispute. Amidst opposition concerns about the EVM voting system, petitions have been filed calling for the verification of every vote.

Among the petitioners are the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and activist Arun Kumar Agarwal, with the latter specifically seeking the counting of all VVPAT slips. The ADR’s petition urges the court to direct the Election Commission and the government to ensure that voters can verify through VVPATs that their votes have been accurately recorded. This petition also highlights the requirement for voters to verify that their votes have been “recorded as cast,” a provision partially addressed by the display of the VVPAT slip for approximately seven seconds after pressing the EVM button through a transparent window.