Supreme Court seeks Government’s views on totaliser use for counting of votes in EVMs

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court requested the Central Government's perspective on employing a totaliser for tallying votes in clusters recorded in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to safeguard voter privacy and deter victimization, as opposed to the existing booth-wise counting system. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant explored whether modifications to the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961, which permits this in paper ballot counting, could be made to encompass EVMs as well.

The bench, consisting of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was hearing petitions requesting the Election Commission (EC) to disclose constituency-level results instead of booth-wise figures.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, one of the petitioners, argued that implementing the totaliser mechanism would save lives by preventing post-poll violence. He asserted that most post-poll violence occurs due to parties learning the vote count from individual booths, but with totaliser use, no one could ascertain that information.

He emphasized that implementing totaliser would benefit voters and democracy. Referring to a 2018 Supreme Court order, Upadhyay noted that the EC had initially supported the introduction of totaliser but later changed its stance. The Law Commission had also proposed this idea. Senior Advocate DS Naidu, representing the Law Commission, stated that the Commission had convened an all-party meeting on the matter.

However, 50% of national parties and 68% of state-level parties opposed it. Naidu emphasized that politically, the resistance is significant. Justice Bagchi acknowledged that while totalization is a tool for anonymizing voter choice, it lacks statutory backing. He questioned whether the EC has not approved totaliser, pointing out the challenges the EC raised.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing another petitioner, argued that the only reason political parties oppose totaliser implementation is to manage individual polling booths. He contended that this is not a valid reason when voters face intimidation and wish to avoid being targeted due to their voting choices. Naidu emphasized that the EC can only recommend the change, and it falls to the Central government to enact the rules in consultation with the EC.

Justice Bagchi wondered if the totaliser could be used "in a situation where there is a perceptible ground reality of victimization." The Law Commission, in its affidavit, highlighted the absence of statutory provisions for the totaliser's introduction and its potential impact on the existing audit mechanism based on Form 17C, which records statutory vote counts maintained in two parts under the Conduct of Elections Rules.