| ASPECTS | DETAILS |
| Case Title | Association of Democratic Reforms vs. Election Commission of India & Anr. |
| Introduction | The Supreme Court declined the petitioners’ request for 100% cross-verification of EVM data with VVPAT records, citing various reasons. |
| Factual Background | The petitioners sought the counting of all VVPAT paper slips in elections instead of verifying only 5 randomly selected EVMs in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency. |
| Legal Issues | Whether 100% counting of VVPAT slips should be mandated in elections. |
| Applicable Law | Indian Election laws, Supreme Court directives. |
| Analysis | The court reasoned that 100% counting would increase time, require doubled manpower, be prone to human errors, and could lead to manipulation charges. |
| Conclusion | The court denied the request for 100% counting but allowed post-poll checking of 5% EVMs per assembly segment on request by runner-up candidates. |
| Current Scenario | The ECI may examine the use of counting machines for VVPAT slip counting instead of manual counting. |
CASE SUMMARY – The Supreme Court rejected a plea for 100% cross-verification of EVM data with VVPAT records, citing concerns such as increased counting time, manpower, human errors, and potential manipulation charges. The court emphasized the lack of data indicating a need for increased verification. However, it allowed post-poll checking of 5% EVMs per assembly segment on request by runner-up candidates. The ECI was suggested to examine the use of counting machines for VVPAT slip counting.
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