Even though, the apex court has already disposed of the petitions filed earlier after satisfying itself with the reasoning of the Election Commission (EC), still another petition came up after BJP President L K Advani recently raised doubts over EVMs’ reliability in the last general election.
The EC in its reply to the petitions filed by some workers of BJP, Shiv Sena, AIADMK and NGOs in January 2009 said that it was satisfied with the non-tamperability and the foolproof working of the EVMs. Use of the machines was more cost-effective than the ballot papers.
The EC’s confidence in the efficacy of the EVMs has been fortified by the rulings of the Karnataka, Madras, Bombay (Nagpur Bench) and Kerala High Courts.
Yet, the chorus against EVM is growing louder. In a PIL filed on July 9, 2009, Ennikala Nigha Vedica, an NGO from Hyderabad said, ‘’Experts and election watch groups and individuals have found that EVMs could be manipulated or tampered.’’
