ECI reiterates 'full faith' in EVMs replying to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

In a letter replying to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said the current EVMs in use in Indian election are compliant to the extant legal framework created and strengthened by jurisprudence evolved over more than 40 years by the Constitutional Courts of  India. The ECI expressed its 'full faith' in the use of EVMs in the backdrop of the Opposition questioning their credibility.

New Delhi: Days after Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-Verified paper audit trail (VVPATs), the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday said that the poll panel has "full faith" in the use of EVMs.

Addressing a letter to Jairam Ramesh, the CEC highlighted that "EVMs are electronic machines and like any other machine they are also vulnerable to failures. The failed machines are sent to the factories for rectification. However, there is no question of any machine 'malfunctioning' in a way so as to favour a particular candidate, which is called tampering as per defined EVM protocol. This scenario is just not possible with the many safeguards incorporated in design of EVM itself."

The letter by the poll panel further said that "it is reiterated that material made available by ECI in public domain on EVMs, including latest updated FAQs (85 questions), adequately and comprehensively cover all reasonable and legitimate aspects of use of EVMs in Indian election."

"Moreover, basic legal provisions governing VVPAT can be referred at Rule 49A and 49M of Conduct of Election Rules 1961, introduced on 14th August 2013...", it added.

The poll panel further stated that the current EVMs in use in Indian election are compliant to the extant legal framework created and strengthened by the successive Union Governments of the day and jurisprudence evolved over more that 40 years by the Constitutional Courts of India.

"Anything beyond existing legal framework and established jurisprudence is beyond singular domain of the Commission", it said.

"It is beyond any explanation that out of context references are being made to other Countries and their Constitutional Courts about use of EVMs in elections. Based on the outcomes of the elections conducted using EVMs (Annexure-Il), legal framework, established jurisprudence, technical security and administrative safeguards, Commission has full faith in use of EVMs in election", it further said.

It is pertinent to note here that on January 2, Jairam Ramesh write a letter to the poll panel seeking an appointment to meet the delegation of INDIA bloc leaders to discuss the issue of VVPAT.

Ever since the triumph of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the opposition parties since then have been questioning the credibility of the EVMs saying that they can be tampered while the saffron party says that the opposition has been unable to digest the electoral loss.

Read More