New Delhi: In a rare intervention, the Election Commission (EC) has told the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to introspect its electoral performance in the just-concluded Punjab polls instead of attributing its “unsatisfactory poll performance” to the alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
In a strongly worded communication to the ruling party in Delhi on Sunday, the EC reiterated the safeguards of the EVMs and said that, as per norms, any request for verifying already cast votes can only be considered by the high court concerned.
“It is for your party to introspect as to why your party could not perform as per your expectations and it is unfair on the part of your party to attribute unsatisfactory poll performance of your party to the alleged tamperability of EVMs. The Commission is fully satisfied with the tamper proof functioning of the EC-EVMs,” the EC said in its response to AAP adding that there is an “elaborate technical and administrative system of safeguards to ensure error-free functioning of EVMs in elections”.
It was responding to doubts expressed by AAP, which won 20 out of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, about reliability of EVMs and the results of the polls. It alleged that state poll authorities had refused to accept its demand to tally results with a paper trail audit.
In the letter, the EC said that the Supreme Court has never cast any doubts on EVMs. “The Commission strongly objects to this wrong and imaginary extrapolation of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order. This may please be noted as a responsible political party,” EC said in a six-page response.
According to the Press Trust of India, the EC is in the process of buying the next generation of EVMs which stop working if they are tampered with and come with a self-diagnostic system for authentication of genuineness of the machines. These are likely to be introduced by 2018.
An official spokesperson of the AAP said, “The recent incidents have raised questions on the credibility of EVMs and have shown that they can be compromised. Instead of addressing the issue, EC chose to make a political statement. It is unfortunate and raises a serious question on the impartiality of the EC.”
