Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, has approached the Madras High Court seeking a slew of directions to ensure free and fair elections in the State. .Among other things, the DMK has sought a bar on the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) which are older than 15 years. It has also prayed for installation of jammers in strong rooms where EVMs are stored before and after voting, and at the counting centres during counting. .The plea further sought live CCTV coverage during voting in all polling booths and voting centres of the Election Commission of India (ECI)..When the matter was taken up on Wednesday by a Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, the Court observed that, "A strong case made out for installation of CCTV around the strong-rooms or other places where the EVMs may be considered so that it is foolproof and no unauthorized access may be possible at such places.".Before adjourning the matter, the Court has directed the ECI to schedule a meeting with recognized political parties in the State to seek their views on the identification of critical polling booths which may be videographed in the interest of transparency. Details on the same are to be included on the counter-affidavit to be filed by the ECI on March 29, when the matter will be taken up next. Senior Advocate P Wilson represented DMK in the matter today. .The petition has also prayed for a direction to the Returning Officer to count at least 50 per cent of voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) simultaneously in the upcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu on April 6, 2021. .The petition stated that the life span of EVMs is only fifteen years and that the machines have been in use in India since 2001. "Therefore if these EVMs are used in these elections then there is every apprehension whether these machines would correctly record the vote. Apart from this, these EVMs will not be equipped with the latest technological advances, including firewall and protection against hacking and other attacks," the petition said. .Thus, it was submitted that in order to dispel the fear from the minds of the people and to infuse confidence among the electorate, the EVMs manufactured recently which would possess latest technical and security updates must be utilized by the Election Commission as they would be less susceptible to hackers, attacks of any kind, or malfunctioning. .The plea highlighted that currently, live webcast/streaming of polling is done only at vulnerable polling booths. However, that is not sufficient and in order to ensure adequate secrecy, the same should be done in all polling booths, enabling the voters and public to watch the entire polling process live. This would ensure transparent elections, and would assure all of a fair and impartial election process, the petition stated. .Further, jammers should be installed around strong room where EVMs are stored after polling and also around the counting centers during counting of EVMs. This, the plea claimed, will dispel notions of the electorate that EVMs can be hacked."Jammers have to be fitted around the storage area in order to prevent hacking of these EVM’s. I submit that it is necessary that the respondents make arrangements to install CCTVs outside the storage area and permit the candidate or his representatives to monitor the same. This will ensure that there is no tampering of the EVM's before they are taken to the polling booths thereby ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections," the petition said. .Regarding counting of VVPATs, the petitioner contended that it ensures a fool proof method of declaration of results. Besides, it was also pointed out that the expenses incurred for simultaneous recording of VVPATs along with EVMs will go waste if there is no proper utilization of the former."It is to be noted that the purpose for recording of votes through VVPATs is to have an audit on the recording of the EVMs. When there is a fear of hacking the EVMs, the simultaneous counting of the VVPATs will instil confidence in the mind of the people about the genuineness in the recording of EVMs," it was submitted. In this regard, it was also urged that discretion should not be given to the Returning Officer to to count VVPATs as such discretion cannot be immediately appealed or challenged..[Read the Order passed today]
