Arora asserted that the Election Commission will not go back to ballot papers.
New Delhi: Amid renewed demands against the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Thursday asserted that the Election Commission is not going back to ballot papers.
EVMs are being used as a “football” due to a “motivated slugfest”, he said.
“I would like to make it very, very clear one more time that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers,” Arora said, addressing a gathering ahead of National Voters Day.
He said the poll panel would not take the country back to an era where ballot papers were lifted by musclemen.
“We are open to any criticism and feedback. But we are not going to be bullied. We are going to keep using EVMs,” he said using strong words to defend the machines.
His remarks came days after a self proclaimed cyber expert claimed the machines can be hacked.
Following his claims, several parties have demanded the use of ballot papers in the coming Lok Sabha polls.- PTI
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These sorts of gimmickry will be keep on coming till the commencement of the elections and time and again , opposition will leave no stone unturned to go back on the paper ballot papers which can be hijacked by goons of Political parties . Whole ballot boxes were removed from the polling stations and I think opposition wants the replicate of the same climate.ECI should welcome their suggestions ,be responsive with effective underlying of clearing their doubts.
Over the next one hundred days, the ECI needs to keep its door open, be receptive and responsive to all serious political participants, set at rest doubts that some have raised over the reliability of EVMs. It also needs to be mindful of messaging. Sometimes the timing of an important announcement, plus or minus a few hours, can give rise to needless misgivings.