In a major development the top Court of India rejected the Pleas seeking 100% cross-verification of the electronic voting machines or the EVM data with voter verifiable paper audit trail records. Watch to know more.

India General Elections: SC rejects VVPAT petitions, denies pleas for 100% verification of votes

Andhra Pradesh chief minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-general-elections-2019/tdp-chief-naidu-meets-rahul-discusses-firming-up-anti-bjp-front-219558">N Chandrababu Naidu</a> urged the Election Commission to count votes through Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) instead of EVMs during counting for the Lok Sabha polls.

At an event held for discussing measures to increase transparency in elections, Naidu said, "The Election Commission has allowed for five per cent random matching of EVMs in an assembly segment with VVPAT. The poll watch body has argued that the matching cannot be exceeded to 50 per cent because it will take six additional days to declare the result of the polls. I am asking why can`t the Election Commission counts VVPAT directly instead of counting EVMs, which I feel is a more complicated process."

"The officials will count EVMs first then they will check 5 per cent of EVMs with VVPAT. After this, if there is any discrepancy is found then they will take VVPAT count as final. If such is the case then why can`t the officials directly count VVPAT trails," he added.

Earlier on Friday Naidu hit out at the Election Commission, calling it a 'biased body'&nbsp;which gave "controversial and pro-government decisions". Naidu made the remarks after a meeting with Chief Election Commission Sunil Arora regarding repolling in five polling stations under the Chittoor parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh on May 19.

The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls will take place on May 23.&nbsp;

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Election Commission to count votes through Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) instead of EVMs during counting for the Lok Sabha polls.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Election Commission to count votes through Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) instead of EVMs during counting for the Lok Sabha polls. At an event held for discussing measures to increase transparency in elections, Naidu said, "The Election Commission has allowed for five per cent random matching of EVMs in an assembly segment with VVPAT. The poll watch body has argued that the matching cannot be exceeded to 50 per cent because it will take six additional days to declare the result of the polls. I am asking why can`t the Election Commission counts VVPAT directly instead of counting EVMs, which I feel is a more complicated process." "The officials will count EVMs first then they will check 5 per cent of EVMs with VVPAT. After this, if there is any discrepancy is found then they will take VVPAT count as final. If such is the case then why can`t the officials directly count VVPAT trails," he added. Earlier on Friday Naidu hit out at the Election Commission, calling it a 'biased body' which gave "controversial and pro-government decisions". Naidu made the remarks after a meeting with Chief Election Commission Sunil Arora regarding repolling in five polling stations under the Chittoor parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh on May 19. The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls will take place on May 23.

Naidu suggests Election Commission to count votes through VVPATs

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has said — categorically — that the Election Commission is going to continue to use electronic voting machines. He added that they would <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/evm-hacking-claim-centre-alleges-congress-organised-hackathon-in-london-opposition-calls-for-switch-to-ballot-box-191969">not be "bullied" or "intimidated" into using ballot papers</a>.&nbsp;

Arora made his comments at an event in Delhi.&nbsp;

"I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers," he said.&nbsp;

"We will continue to use EVMs (electronic voting machines) and VVPATs (voter-verified paper audit trail," he added. &nbsp;

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CEC Sunil Arora in Delhi: We will continue to use EVMs &amp; VVPATs. We are open to any criticism &amp; feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers. <a href="https://t.co/bco5DOSfTd">pic.twitter.com/bco5DOSfTd</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1088306788225744896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"We are open to any criticism and feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers," Arora said.&nbsp;

There has been a long history of criticism of EVMs in India, especially so since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014. (The criticism however has never been backed up by solid proof.)&nbsp;

In 2017, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had dared the Election Commission to give him any EVM, saying he would hack it in 90 seconds.&nbsp;

And only this week, a self-proclaimed cyber expert, Syed Shuja, called a hackathon in London.&nbsp;

Shuja made a series of sensational claims in London, including that EVMs were hacked in the 2014 general elections and that&nbsp;senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde was "murdered" before he could expose the alleged crime.&nbsp;

The BJP has said the hackathon was sponsored by the Congress since party leader Kapil Sibal had attended it.&nbsp;

Despite the lack of proof offered by Shuja, a number of leaders including the BSP's Mayawati, the SP's Akhilesh Yadav, and the TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu have called for the junking of the EVMs and a return to ballot papers.&nbsp;

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has said — categorically — that the Election Commission is going to continue to use electronic voting machines. He added that they would not be "bullied" or "intimidated" into using ballot papers.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has said — categorically — that the Election Commission is going to continue to use electronic voting machines. He added that they would not be "bullied" or "intimidated" into using ballot papers. Arora made his comments at an event in Delhi. "I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers," he said. "We will continue to use EVMs (electronic voting machines) and VVPATs (voter-verified paper audit trail," he added. CEC Sunil Arora in Delhi: We will continue to use EVMs & VVPATs. We are open to any criticism & feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers. pic.twitter.com/bco5DOSfTd — ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2019 × "We are open to any criticism and feedback from any stakeholder including political parties. At the same time, we are not going to be intimidated, bullied or coerced into giving up these and start era of ballot papers," Arora said. There has been a long history of criticism of EVMs in India, especially so since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014. (The criticism however has never been backed up by solid proof.) In 2017, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had dared the Election Commission to give him any EVM, saying he would hack it in 90 seconds. And only this week, a self-proclaimed cyber expert, Syed Shuja, called a hackathon in London. Shuja made a series of sensational claims in London, including that EVMs were hacked in the 2014 general elections and that senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde was "murdered" before he could expose the alleged crime. The BJP has said the hackathon was sponsored by the Congress since party leader Kapil Sibal had attended it. Despite the lack of proof offered by Shuja, a number of leaders including the BSP's Mayawati, the SP's Akhilesh Yadav, and the TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu have called for the junking of the EVMs and a return to ballot papers.

Election Commission will not be 'bullied, intimidated' into going back to ballot papers: CEC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a live demonstration of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail System (VVPATs) today&nbsp;in Delhi.

It will also hold a press conference on the &quot; EVM Challenge&quot;.

Earlier this week, the poll panel had said it would offer an &quot;opportunity&quot;&nbsp;to the political parties to prove that EVMs used in the recently-held assembly polls were tampered with or can be tampered even with laid down safeguards.

The poll body also convened an all-party meeting over the issue of EVM and other electoral reforms.

In its communication to the presidents of all the seven national and 48 state political parties, the poll panel sent a status paper on EVMs and VVPATs.

Last month,&nbsp;16 opposition parties had urged the Election Commission to revert to the paper ballot system saying that the alleged tampering has created trust deficit in the credibility of the EVMs.

However,&nbsp;the poll body has been maintaining that EVMs are tamper-proof and cannot be manipulated.

The federal cabinet had given its nod to sanctioned funds of nearly Rs&nbsp;3,200 crore to procure more than 16 lakh VVPATs as sought by the Election Commission.

Besides EVMs, the meeting is expected to deliberate on making bribery in elections a cognisable offence, disqualification on framing of charges for the offences of bribery in elections and suggestions in VVPAT recount Rules.

On Tuesday, the AAP, during a special session of the Delhi assembly, conducted a live demonstration on how EVMs can be tampered with.

Reacting to the demonstration, the poll panel said the machine used to conduct live demonstration was a &#39;look-alike&#39;&#39; which was made to function in a &#39;tampered&#39; manner.

A day before the all-party meeting, the AAP yesterday forwarded a new demand, calling for an all party committee to be formed under the monitoring of the Election Commission to ascertain whether EVMS were hacked in the recently held elections or not.

&nbsp;(ANI) 
&nbsp;

The poll body has been maintaining that EVMs are tamper-proof and cannot be manipulated

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a live demonstration of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail System (VVPATs) today in Delhi. It will also hold a press conference on the " EVM Challenge". Earlier this week, the poll panel had said it would offer an "opportunity" to the political parties to prove that EVMs used in the recently-held assembly polls were tampered with or can be tampered even with laid down safeguards. The poll body also convened an all-party meeting over the issue of EVM and other electoral reforms. In its communication to the presidents of all the seven national and 48 state political parties, the poll panel sent a status paper on EVMs and VVPATs. Last month, 16 opposition parties had urged the Election Commission to revert to the paper ballot system saying that the alleged tampering has created trust deficit in the credibility of the EVMs. However, the poll body has been maintaining that EVMs are tamper-proof and cannot be manipulated. The federal cabinet had given its nod to sanctioned funds of nearly Rs 3,200 crore to procure more than 16 lakh VVPATs as sought by the Election Commission. Besides EVMs, the meeting is expected to deliberate on making bribery in elections a cognisable offence, disqualification on framing of charges for the offences of bribery in elections and suggestions in VVPAT recount Rules. On Tuesday, the AAP, during a special session of the Delhi assembly, conducted a live demonstration on how EVMs can be tampered with. Reacting to the demonstration, the poll panel said the machine used to conduct live demonstration was a 'look-alike'' which was made to function in a 'tampered' manner. A day before the all-party meeting, the AAP yesterday forwarded a new demand, calling for an all party committee to be formed under the monitoring of the Election Commission to ascertain whether EVMS were hacked in the recently held elections or not. (ANI)

India's Election Commission to hold live demo of EVMs, VVPATs today amid tampering allegations

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