NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party, the Left parties and other Opposition parties on Wednesday demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines in elections. Some members suggested a return to the paper ballot system.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said some countries had gone back to paper voting in the wake of apprehensions about the use of EVMs.
“We will urge the government to call an all-party meeting,” he said adding that technical experts should be called to clear doubts.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, M.V. Mysura Reddy (TDP) said EVMs were not foolproof and did not have backups in case of failure. Alleging that the Election Commission was harassing technical experts who had doubts about the functioning of EVMs, he sought an all-party meeting on the issue. Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) also supported the demand.
V. Maitreyan (AIADMK) said EVMs had become suspect not only for the political class but also for the common man. Several European countries had gone back to ballot paper.
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