New Delhi:
A day after Opposition parties knocked on the doors of the Election Commission saying they don’t trust EVMs and demanded verification of VVPAT slips before counting, the poll body rejected the demand on Wednesday. This has come as a setback for the Opposition. It will be go on as planned, the Election Commission said.Â
The development comes a day after the EC dismissed allegations that the voting machines used in the Lok Sabha election were being switched with fresh ones ahead of counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission Tuesday set up a 24-hour control room here to monitor complaints relating to EVMs.
Reacting to the Election Commission's refusal to change the counting process, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, said, "Integrity of EVMs by matching with sample VVPATs has to be done at the start of the counting. Doing so after the trends are declared makes it infructuous and is likely to lead to protests and a possible law and order situation from the affected candidates."
This goes against the spirit of the Supreme Court Order on VVPATs delivered before polling began. If the process has been so long drawn for the sake of integrity of the electoral process, why is EC not adhering to the basic principle of testing the sample first? https://t.co/Nyz2n6gY5t
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 22, 2019