Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has refuted allegations of electronic voting machine (EVM) malfunction during mock polls in Kerala, informing the Supreme Court that reports suggesting extra votes in favor of the BJP are entirely untrue.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, brought the issue to the attention of a Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. Bhushan cited instances where four EVMs allegedly malfunctioned during mock polls in Kasaragod district, Kerala, on April 17.Responding to the Benchs inquiry, senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Election Commission, assured to investigate the matter.Reports found to be falseLater, during the courts reconvening, senior Election Commission official Nitesh Kumar Vyas clarified that after thorough verification, the reports were found to be false. Vyas assured the court of submitting a detailed report on the matter.Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing another petitioner, Arun Kumar Agarwal, clarified that their intention was not adversarial but to highlight media reports. He emphasized that formal complaints would be lodged only after proper verification.Justice Khanna noted that the petitioners solely relied on media reports and hadnt personally verified the issue.SC hearing petitions advocating 100 per cent cross verification via VVPATsThe Supreme Court is currently hearing petitions advocating for 100% cross-verification of EVM votes with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. The petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms, are urging the court to grant voters physical access to VVPAT slips to verify their votes before depositing them into sealed ballot boxes. They argue that voters have a fundamental right to confidence in the accuracy of their votes.The petitioners express concerns over potential EVM malfunctions or tampering, favoring a specific party, possibly the ruling one, through the upload of malicious software.
