SC asks Election Commission to consider representation seeking time stamps on voter slips
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to consider a representation seeking that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips have time stamps that record the exact moment that an elector casts his or her vote, Live Law reported.
A public interest litigation seeking such a direction had been filed by a businessman.
His counsel contended that the absence of a time stamp creates a “physical audit gap”, especially in cases where there are questions surrounding voting patterns in the closing hours of polling, according to Live Law.
He argued that this weakens the evidentiary value of the paper trail in dealing with such concerns.
Introduced in 2013, VVPAT machines allow voters to verify that the votes have been cast as intended, by printing the name and symbol of the party the voter has voted for. This printout is visible to the voter for a few seconds before it drops into a box.
In the court, the petitioner referred to cases where a sudden jump in the voter turnout after 5 pm had led to “widespread doubts” being cast about the integrity of the process, The Hindu reported.
“All that would be put to rest by time-stamping VVPAT slips,” his counsel told the court.
The counsel added that while the Conduct of Elections Rules require that names, serial numbers and symbols of candidates should...