Zaidi also said the commission has 'no favourites' and it was equidistant from all parties. PTI Photo
After hue and cry over EVMs, most political parties were not vocal on Friday about the return to ballot paper for conduct of elections.
At the all party meeting convened by the Election Commission here, most of the political parties wanted the greater transparency and verifiability in the voting process with demands for introduction of voter verifiable paper audit trail for all elections.
“Only a two or three political parties wanted the Election Commission to go back to using ballot paper for conduct of elections,” a leader of a national political party said. The day-long meeting was attended by representatives of seven national parties and 35 of the 48 state recognised political parties.
Congress representative Vivek Tankha said the electoral system should be trustworthy enough to satisfy the voters that their votes were cast in favour of the the candidates of their choice. He also pitched for longer display of VVPAT chits to voter can increase transparency.
On action against candidates facing charges, Tankha said no arrest should be made without the Commission's nod in such cases. The Commission should ensure, transparency, verifiability and authenticity of the election process, he said.
Last month, 16 political parties had approached the Commission with demands to return to the use of paper ballots for elections contending that the peoples' faith in EVMs had “eroded”.
DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said he was satisfied after the detailed presentation by the Election Commission on the infalliability of EVMs.
AIADMK leader M Thambidurai wanted the EC to count VVPAT slips along with the EVM tally to remove doubt about the poll process.