NEW DELHI: Amid the controversy regarding tampering of EVMs, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has written a fresh letter to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad seeking release of `3,100 crore for procurement of paper-trail voting machines to be used in the 2019 general elections. This is the 13th letter the Election Commission has sent to the Centre seeking funds to buy over 16 lakh machines to cover all polling stations.
The latest one, sent on March 22, stated that procurement of EVMs with Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) cannot be delayed any longer given the prevailing environment. “The Commission stands fully committed to deploy VVPATs along with EVMs in all future elections so that transparency of electoral process is enhanced, integrity of the voting preserved and the voters’ confidence in the process is further strengthened,” Zaidi wrote in his letter to Prasad.
The BSP, SP, Congress and AAP have accused the government of not releasing funds for VVPATs and allege that EVMs were tampered with during the recent Assembly elections in five States. The opposition has demanded that EC revert to the paper ballot system as EVMS can be tampered with.
The government has repeatedly said it is considering the viability of manufacturing VVPATs as only two government companies make them. According to official figures, in 2015, 67,000 VVPATs were ordered, but only 33,000 were received. Zaidi said an order for the machines should be placed immediately as it would take 30 months from the date of release of funds for Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd to manufacture them.