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National

Provide receipts for EVM votes: Swamy

M. Rajeev

HYDERABAD: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has demanded that the Election Commission (EC) take steps to provide a paper trail (receipts) for votes cast through the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and revert to ballot papers until arrangements for this were made.

Claiming that the ballot system provided for “retail rigging” while the EVMs gave scope for rigging on a “wholesale” basis, Mr. Swamy alleged that the ruling Congress had secured at least 90 seats more in the previous Lok Sabha elections, if the study of votes cast in individual polling booths was any indication.

“Going by the number of booths in which voting was as low as three and zero in some instances, it becomes clear that the Congress got at least 90 seats more,” Mr. Swamy — accompanied by V. Hariprasad, who is fighting against the use of EVMs — told a press conference here on Sunday.

Mr. Swamy came down heavily on the EC authorities for “propagating lies” claiming that no demonstration on the tampering of EVMs was made, that Indian EVMs were appreciated the world over, and that the EC was not bound by any statute.

“While several countries have reverted to the ballot system, the commission should provide receipts in line with the IT Act of 2000,” he said.

The EC, Mr. Swamy said, had in fact applied for a patent on EVMs, but withdrew the application after the World Intellectual Property Organisation clarified that the machine was not patentable.

Moreover, no international body had certified Indian EVMs, and the only country that followed the Indian machines was Bhutan, which had no other option.

“Japan, where the chips of the EVMs are made, did not adopt the EVMs,” he said.

Mr. Swamy said there was a threat to Mr. Hariprasad, against whom bogus cases had been registered.

Mr. Swamy demanded that the cases be withdrawn, as Mr. Hariprasad had no intention to defraud people, or he would sue the EC for Rs.10 crore.

Mr. Hariprasad claimed that top EC authorities had accepted that there were problems with EVMs, but were apprehensive of the political fall-out. The EC was prepared to make changes in the existing model of the EVMs.

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