On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear a petition to ban the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot paper in elections.
The application of counsel CR Jaya Sukin was denied by a court of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli. Petitioner CR Jaya Sukin has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a Delhi High Court decision on August 3, 2021, which denied his claim.
CR Jaya Sukin’s petition seeks to prohibit the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot paper in any future elections.
“That to save democracy, we must introduce the ballot paper system back in the electoral process in the country. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have replaced the old ballot paper system in India, although many countries of the world; including England, France, Germany, Netherlands, and the United States have banned the use of EVMs,” the petitioner said in his petitioner before Delhi High Court.
He also said in Article 324 of the Indian Constitution that elections administered by the Election Commission must be free and fair, and must represent the will of the people. Electronic voting machines (EVMs) must be replaced with conventional ballot papers across India, according to the lawyer, because voting with ballot papers is a more trustworthy and transparent technique for any country’s election process.
In its appeal, the lawyer also stated that industrialised countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, and others had rejected EVMs during elections and instead used the ballot form of voting.
“This should indicate that EVMs are not satisfactory instruments to be used for the electoral process of a country. EVMs can be hacked. But the ballot system extremely safe,” the petitioner said.
