
In a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the decision to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) and not ballot papers for the upcoming local body polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday submitted before the Gujarat High Court that EVMs are “completely foolpoof” and local body election rules permit EVM usage and not VVPAT.
The petition moved by Ahmedabad resident Imtiyaz Khan Pathan had sought the court’s direction to the SEC to conduct the polls through ballot paper since the state does not have sufficient VVPAT inventory to attach to the EVMs.
Senior advocate Mihir Joshi representing the SEC submitted before the division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikram Nath, “Looking into the nature of local body elections that has multiple candidates, it has been decided that EVMs are the best mode and are foolproof, tamper-proof and has withstood scrutiny.”
The final order in the case has now been reserved.