The Supreme Court of India has advised the Election Commission to submit a holistic review letter along with the measures taken to ensure a fair election to the petitioners who have sought the cross-verification of votes through the VVPAT system.
The group of the petitioners’ advocates argued for enhanced antraness and transparency, suggesting that the voters could take the VVPAT slip with them and proclaim an extended visibility period of the slips. The Election Commission cleared the air on the votation process by saying that the VVPAT machine prints a paper slip for 7 seconds so that the chosen candidate will be displayed clearly before the slip is deposited in a sealed box.
The Commission further addressed fears about software input in the VVPAT printer, reassuring that no preloaded data is available. The court probed the Commission’s side about such discrepancies. Were the clamping processes of the Symbol Loading Units properly monitored and sealed? The Election Commission listed the random number generation process and the safekeeping of voting machines in the strong room as the major issues.
Hence, the judicial panel reserved its order, which marked the predominance of trust and honesty as core principles of democracy.
