Ballot Paper In Maharashtra Polls? Speaker Asks State Government To Draft Law

Despite all the efforts by the Election Commission, scathing attacks on the EVM machine have continued more recently after the conclusion of Bihar Assembly Elections in 2020.

Ever since the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, there have been murmurs about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) being "faulty". As BJP's ballot surged in the General Election and other Assembly elections post 2014, opposition leaders spoke more ferociously about EVMs being "hacked".

Time and again the Election Commission of India (ECI) has demonstrated that EVMs can't be hacked or tampered with. The ECI also introduced the VVPAT paper audit trail with EVMs to make the process more transparent and clear. Despite all the efforts by the Election Commission, scathing attacks on the EVM machine have continued more recently after the conclusion of Bihar Assembly Elections in 2020.

Now, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker is flirting with the idea of re-introduction of ballot papers along with EVMs for state and local governing bodies' election.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Maharashtra Speaker Nana Patole said, "I have asked the state government to frame a law in this connection. The state government can frame a law. In the past, doubts were raised during the elections (about EVM tampering)."

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"Voting is a fundamental right and one should have the option of casting vote using ballot papers or EVM," he Patole added.

A meeting was held to discuss the usage of ballot papers besides EVMs at Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday in Mumbai, where State Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, the state's chief electoral officer Baldev Singh and others were present along with the Maha Assembly Speaker.

As per reports, a Nagpur resident moved an application stating that it is the right of voters from the state to have the option of casting their votes via ballot paper before the Assembly Speaker. The application also stated that it should be left to people to decide whether EVMs or ballot papers are trustworthy and it is the legislature's responsibility to frame a law keeping in mind public sentiments.