The Election Commission (EC) has not provided any substantive response to the “genuine concerns” raised by the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), Congress general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh said in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
In his January 7 letter, Mr. Ramesh claimed that the poll panel has been repeatedly directing them to “generic FAQS” as the answer book for all queries and termed the EC’s “refusal” to engage with political parties as a matter of grave concern.
Mr. Ramesh’s fresh letter is in response to a letter from the CEC that followed a request from INDIA partners for an appointment. The Opposition alliance has been demanding 100% matching of the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips and EVMs and said the VVPAT slips should be handed over to voters, who could drop it in a separate box.
“I had made an express request for an appointment for the INDIA parties’ leaders with the honourable commission. I had even specified the agenda for the appointment discussion and suggestions on the usage of VVPAT slips for the upcoming elections. The Election Commission’s response, while completely brushing aside our request for an appointment, has yet again failed to provide a substantive response to our queries and genuine concerns over EVMs,” Mr. Ramesh said in his letter.
Generic EC FAQs
“Instead, the commission has been repeatedly directing us to generic EC FAQs [frequently asked questions] as the answer book for all queries in respect of EVMs and VVPATS,” he added.
The Congress leader said the EC was informed that concerns remain unaddressed by the FAQs yet the poll regulator labelled the Opposition’ queries as based on an “inadequate or incorrect appreciation of FAQs and EVM resource material”.
“This illustrates and underscores exactly why we have been asking the commission for an audience, to discuss these unresolved and legitimate queries. Your point blank refusal to even engage with political participants on EVMs or VVPATs is a matter of grave concern for all political parties and not just those who belong to the INDIA alliance,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said it was also surprising to note that the commission had been taking refuge behind judicial orders while also reminding us that public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed on the issue of EVMs and VVPATs have been dismissed with monetary costs.
“In fact, there is no judicial order which restrains this commission from meeting the INDIA parties’ leaders on the issue of EVMs or VVPATS. This request is being made on behalf of the INDIA parties, which have given our country prime ministers, chief ministers and a very large number of distinguished political leaders. INDIA parties commanded over 60% of the popular vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Yet the commission continues to deny these parties an opportunity to meet with it. This is most unfortunate and to put it very mildly, unprecedented,” he said.
