Election Commission of India will never go back to era of ballot papers: CEC Sunil Arora

Amid many political parties and leaders calling for conducting the Lok Sabha 2019 elections through ballot paper, Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora stated that the election body is not going back to the ballot papers.

He said, "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."

His statement comes days after a self-proclaimed US-based Indian cyber expert made a sensational claim that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were "rigged" through the EVMs, which, he said, can be hacked.

A cyber expert Syed Shuja had claimed in London on Monday that the 2014 general polls and assembly elections of various states were rigged through EVM hacking. On Monday, the self-proclaimed cyber expert, identified as Syed Shuja, who is seeking political asylum in the US, claimed the 2014 elections were ‘rigged’ through the EVMs, which, he says, can be hacked. The Election Commission of India has denied the charge.

On Tuesday, BSP supremo Mayawati had demanded that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls be held using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). "The latest revelations have made the doubts on the EVMs more serious. It is better under such conditions that the future elections, especially the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, be conducted using ballot papers which can be verified at three levels unlike the EVMs," she said in a statement.

(With inputs from PTI and ENS)