SC: 'Instruct the Election Commission to keep EVM data safe for three years', Kapil Sibal urges
Supreme Court: Kapil Sibal has appealed to the apex court to direct the Election Commission to keep the EVM data safe for three years. He claimed that this would reveal much information related to voting.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has urged the Supreme Court to direct the Election Commission to keep the EVM data safe for at least two or three years. Sibal has also requested the top court to direct the Commission to declare the voting records of each phase before counting of votes. So that no member is elected illegally.
Sibal said that if Form 17C (account of votes recorded) cannot be uploaded by the Election Commission, then this responsibility can be taken up by the State Election Officer. He further said that by keeping the data of EVMs safe, it will be known at what time the voting took place and how many votes were invalid. This will also be known at what time the votes were cast. Therefore there is a need to keep data secure.
Sibal claimed that the Election Commission usually keeps this data safe for 30 days. He stressed that it needs to be protected for a long time. The Rajya Sabha MP said that we also need to know how the voting percentage increases and how these figures increase when the revised figures come out. He said, 'We want the top court of the country to direct the Election Commission in this regard.'
In the Supreme Court, the Election Commission had previously contended that it would be improper to post voting results on its website 48 hours following each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Actually, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organization, brought up this demand in the highest court. As per the Election Commission's argument, taking this action might make the election situation worse.
