Ballot papers are history now: CEC Sunil Arora

Mumbai: Rejecting a demand by Maharashtra Opposition parties not to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming state assembly elections, the Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora categorically said that “ballot papers are history now.”

A few political parties have asked for voting through the ballot papers… We have politely but firmly told them that it is not possible. Ballot papers are history now,” Arora told mediapersons here on Wednesday evening.

He added that the ECI is following successive judgments of the Supreme Court on this issue and will continue the same policy in the matter of counting of votes as in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier today, the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, and others met the Election Commission of India (ECI) top brass and made the demand, among others, in Mumbai.

Referring to a list of 44.61 alleged bogus voters submitted by the Congress, Arora assured that the work of deleting such voters is an ongoing process and is underway, though he did not specify any figures.

However, he mentioned that the State Election authorities have been asked “to make the electoral rolls error-free” in the interest of free and fair voting.

Prior to that, Arora had informed the Congress delegation that ECI has deleted 2.16 lakh bogus voters in Maharashtra and the process is on to strike off more such fake names, party general secretary Rajesh Sharma told mediapersons.

Ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls, the Maharashtra Congress submitted a list of 44.61 alleged fake voters in the state and reiterated its demand to conduct the elections on ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

“The EC has told us that while 2.16 lakh fake names of voters have already been deleted, the process is underway to cancel the rest,” state Congress general secretary Rajesh Sharma said.

A delegation led by Sharma and the party’s Legal Cell’s official Adv. Gauri Chhabria called on the CEC Sunil Arora, Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and Sunil Chandra to put forth their demands prior to the elections.

After the CEC’s assurance, Sharma and Chhabria said the names of all the remaining bogus voters, which the party had highlighted earlier this year, should be deleted from the electoral rolls on priority and that EVMs should be replaced with the traditional ballot paper voting, which was endorsed by its ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) national spokesperson Nawab Malik.

“Last February, before the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had submitted the list to the EC, but to date, all the fake voters’ names have not been knocked off the rolls”, Sharma told mediapersons later.

He pointed out that there should be no further delay on the part of the EC in this serious matter as it can help ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party also sought a hike in the election expenditure limits and concessions in mandatory advertisement rates to which the CEC Arora said the government would first discuss with concerned officials before deciding.

Sharma and Malik reiterated that the voters have lost faith in the EVMs and all the opposition political parties have been demanding the use of ballot papers in the state assembly elections.

The CEC delegation is in Mumbai to review the pre-election preparedness and met various stakeholders including the state elections officials, district collectors and superintendents of police, railways and other departments’ officers, representatives of all political parties to understand their issues, problems and demands.