Arora was interacting with media persons after his two-day tour of Bihar during which he met representatives of various political parties and senior state government officials to assess the state's preparedness for 2019 LS polls.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Friday prayed to all political parties to not turn EVMs into "a football" and said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) were here to stay as we were not going back to the era of ballot papers.
Arora was interacting with media persons after his two-day tour of Bihar during which he met representatives of various political parties and senior state government officials to assess the state's preparedness for 2019 LS polls.
"EVMs have been in India for the last 20 years. In 2014 general election, there was one result while in Delhi assembly polls there was a different outcome. The assembly elections conducted in different states have also thrown up varied results. However, the trend now is the if 'X' result comes, EVMs are good, but if 'Y' result comes, EVMs are bad," said Arora.
He sought to allay the doubts by stating that "a high-level committee of scientists take care of these machines. Even the Supreme Court has said that EVMs are being used and it will not interfere with it on a day-to-day basis."
The CEC said, "So I will say that EVMs and VVPATs are here to stay and we are not going back to the era of ballot papers."
He said the EC had a robust system in place for conducting the polls. "In Bihar, the last mile transportation of EVMs and VVPATs can be improved and it will be done in the coming election," he said. The CEC also told the state govt to transfer officials who were posted at any one place for over three years.
Some parties requested the CEC to reduce the number of phases in which polls are held in Bihar (usually 5-7) to avoid undue influences.
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 "Sunil Arora (R) & Ashok Lavasa")
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