The Hindu : Front Page : Civic poll: court moots use of EVMs

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Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
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Civic poll: court moots use of EVMs

Special Correspondent

FINAL TOUCHES: State Election Commissioner D. Chandrasekaran (right), reviews security for the civic polls. — Photo: M. Vedhan

CHENNAI: The First Bench of the Madras High Court observed on Saturday that it would be advisable for the State Election Commission to use electronic voting machines for the civic polls on February 18.

Hearing a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the SEC to use EVMs for elections to all municipal corporations, the Bench comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice K. Chandru said: "Looking at the background of the allegations of cheating, then, perhaps, EVMs could be the answer... We feel it is advisable to use EVMs."

The petitioner, retired bureaucrat A.K. Venkata Subramanian, said it would not be difficult for the Election Commission of India to make available the required number of EVMs for civic polls. Advocate-General R. Viduthalai submitted that at least 4,500 EVMs would be required for Chennai alone and claimed that though the Government was not averse to using EVMs, the opposition parties were against it.

When the Bench sought to know about the availability of EVMs, G. Rajagopal, senior counsel for the Election Commission of India, said about 30,000 EVMs were available in Chennai (at a rent of Rs. 80 per machine). They could be used in segments where the number of candidates did not exceed 64.

Before issuing notice to the SEC, the suggestion to use EVMs was worth considering, as it would avoid allegations in the conduct of civic polls, the judges said. They asked the Mr. Rajagopal to file a statement on February 5, indicating the availability of EVMs, rental structure and the procedure.

State Election Commissioner D. Chandrasekaran on Saturday held discussions with civic election observers, Director General of Police D. Mukherjee, Chennai Police Commissioner Letika Saran and other senior police officers on security arrangements for the polls. A three-layer security would be in place on polling day.

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