Experimenting with voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) system in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in some State elections and some constituencies in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections was “very encouraging” and the Election Commission (EC) intended to gradually use the ‘new-age EVMs’ in the coming elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) V.S. Sampath said here on Saturday.
In an informal chat with reporters, Mr. Sampath, who was on a private visit to this temple-town, said the system, introduced under the direction of the Supreme Court, required further improvement and fine-tuning before its introduction.
In the system, a voter could verify whether his/her vote was registered correctly, as after casting the vote, a slip would be printed showing the name of the candidate, voter serial number and poll symbol, he said.
Mr. Sampath asserted that the present EVMs had no defects. The machines were time-tested and there was no question of anybody manipulating them. However, after political parties expressed misgivings, the EC convened an all-party meeting and decided to introduce the paper trail system.
It was unfair of political parties, the stake holders, to politicise the issue, he said when asked about some political parties in Tamil Nadu finding fault with the EVMs and demanding reverting back to the ballot paper system. Parties, which cried hoarse after losing the elections finding fault with EVMs, remained silent when they won the next elections.
“We have been witnessing this after every election,” he said. Mr. Sampath, who visited Sethukarai and the Adi Jaganatha temple at coastal Thirupullanai, near here, said the temple symbolised the triumph of justice. “God and man faced all odds while fighting against injustice but finally justice triumphs,” he noted.
Accompanied by his wife, daughter and granddaughter, the CEC also visited the Navabashanam (Navagraha) temple installed inside the sea at Devipattinam and the Mandapam station of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). Mr. Sampath would complete his two-day visit to the district by offering worship at the Sri Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram on Sunday.
