Supreme Court rejects plea for full VVPAT-EVM tally, return to paper ballots

New Delhi, Apr 26: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea requesting tallying all Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes in elections, firmly rejecting any return to paper ballots.

The Bar and Bench reported that justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, presiding over the bench, also declined the prayer to revert to paper ballots from EVMs.

In a pronounced order, the Court stated, "We have rejected the prayer for paper ballot voting, complete EVM-VVPAT verification and physical deposit of VVPAT slips." Emphasizing the importance of fostering trust and collaboration to bolster democracy, the Court highlighted the necessity of meaningful criticism over blind scepticism towards systems governing democracy, be it the judiciary or legislature.

Despite dismissing the plea, the Court issued directives to enhance the security of EVMs, aimed at ensuring their foolproof functioning: