NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Election Commission’s response on a PIL challenging its decision to increase the maximum number of voters from 1,200 to 1,500 at every polling station, saying it is “concerned”.
Asking the EC to clarify its stand, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, “We are concerned. No voter should be excluded.”
The bench directed senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the EC, to file a short affidavit explaining the rationale behind the decision to increase the number of voters per polling station.
“Let the affidavit be filed within a period of three weeks,” said the bench.
“EC has to explain to us how an EVM, which can take 1,500 votes, caters to a polling booth having over 1,500 voters and if only 45 votes per hour can be cast in a single machine. How it can accommodate all 1,500 votes if there is cent percent voting from 6 am to 5 pm,” it said.
Singh said the bench knew about the consistent allegations on EVMs, adding, “They will keep on coming. The polling has been happening like this since 2019 and political parties are being consulted before this in every constituency.”
The senior lawyer said polling stations could have multiple polling booths and political parties were consulted in each constituency when the total number of voters was raised per EVM. Singh said voters were always permitted to cast their votes, even beyond the prescribed time.
The bench, which will hear the matter on January 27, 2025, asked the EC to provide a copy of its affidavit to the petitioner before the next date of hearing. The PIL, filed by Indu Prakash Singh, challenged two communications issued by the EC in August, increasing the number of voters per polling station in each constituency across India.
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