Supreme Court seeks clarification from Election Commission on functioning of EVMs

The Supreme Court asked for clarification from the Election Commission regarding certain aspects of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) functioning, including whether the inbuilt microcontrollers are reprogrammable on Wednesday. Senior poll panel official, Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas, who had earlier given a presentation on the functioning of EVMs, was summoned at 2 pm. 

The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, has reserved its verdict on pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The court sought clarification on the storage of EVMs, the microchip in the controlling unit of EVMs, and other aspects.

"We went through the FAQs. We just wanted three-four clarifications. We don’t want to be factually wrong but doubly sure in our findings and hence we thought of seeking the clarification," the bench told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati who was appearing for the EC.

It was informed that VVPAT has a flash memory and the microcontroller is one-time programmable. “We were under the impression that the microcontroller is the memory installed in the control unit (CU). One of the questions in the FAQs indicates that it is also installed in the VVPAT," the bench said.

The bench asked if the microcontroller is one-time programmable because there are different types of microcontrollers. 

The court also sought clarification on symbol loading units and the storage of EVMs for 45 days. The bench pointed out that the limitation period for filing of election petition is 30 days and hence the EVMs are stored for 45 days. 

The last point on which clarification was sought was on the storage and securing of EVMs. The court was informed that all three units of the EVMs should be sealed together. “EVMs consist of three parts–ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT. All three units should be sealed together. We need clarification on this aspect," the bench told the poll panel.

The court dismissed the suggestion of disclosing the source code of EVMs citing chances of misuse. 

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly.