Authenticity of EVM: Lobo to approach court

Former MLA J R Lobo said that he will approach the court questioning the authenticity and reliability of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) within a week.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, he said, “I have already approached Ravindra Kamath and Associates in Bengaluru, who is preparing the paperwork to file a writ in the court.”

Stating that the results of the recently concluded Assembly elections in coastal districts were unexpected, Lobo said that he is questioning the reliability of EVM and VVPAT in Mangaluru City South constituency where he had contested. “I cannot question other Assembly constituencies. A voter should have complete faith in the election process. Even if a slight doubt exists, the Election Commission should not continue such a system.”

“I will urge the Election Commission to go for ballot paper instead of EVM/VVPAT in all the future elections. There is a need to reinstate faith among voters about the election process,” he felt.

The former MLA said that he will abide by the decision of the court after the case is
admitted and heard by the court.

“I have doubts about both the EVM and VVPAT. I want the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips and the EVM results to be matched in all the 238 booths in Mangaluru City South constituency. When I objected about the results on the counting day, the officials had randomly selected one polling station and matched the VVPAT slip and EVM results,” he said.

While the Assembly elections in the state were conducted for the first time with the EVMs linked to VVPAT printers, the Election Commission had decided to count the paper-trail slips of one polling booth selected at random in each constituency, he said.

To count all the VVPAT slips, the court order needs to be produced, he said.

The former MLA said that, “We had our own calucations in each booth as we were aware of the pulse of the people in the constituency.”

“ I doubted the EVM/VVPAT when our calculations went wrong. We were confident of winning the election in Mangaluru City South constituency as we were in the field and were aware of the pulse of the people,” he added.