Jan 16, 2025 04:01 AM IST
The court also directed that any doubts among voters or candidates regarding microcontrollers and chips should be addressed
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Prashant Jagtap who contested and lost the recently held state assembly polls from the Hadapsar assembly constituency has written to the Pune district collector, seeking clarity on verification of 5% of the votes which he had sought earlier.
Jagtap has also requested the district collector to communicate to him the date when the verification process will be conducted.
Several candidates who contested and lost the state assembly polls raised concerns over the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the election process after the assembly election results were declared.
Many like Jagtap paid the required fees and requested verification of five per cent of the votes under the Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) provisions.
READ | Consider plea over duplicate entries in voter list: Delhi HC to EC
Jagtap said, “In Pune district, many candidates applied for vote verification. While some later withdrew their applications, I did not. I recently learned that the Election Commission conducted training for its officers on the verification process. However, there are claims that the commission is following a different procedure than the one outlined by the Supreme Court. Considering this, I wrote a letter seeking clarity on the procedure to be adopted – whether it aligns with the Supreme Court guidelines – and the date for conducting the verification process.”
READ | SC notice to Centre, ECI on Jairam Ramesh’s plea on election rule amendments
Meanwhile, state election officer S Chokalingam on Monday held a meeting with all district collectors, additional election officer Kiran Kulkarni, and other officials. During the meeting, Chokalingam emphasised, “To enhance the credibility of the election process, the re-verification process must be implemented transparently. After the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court upheld the credibility of EVMs, stating that human interference is not possible. The court also directed that any doubts among voters or candidates regarding microcontrollers and chips should be addressed. It is the responsibility of district officers to ensure that the process is conducted properly to build trust among the public.”
The election office too has organised workshops on re-verification in response to the numerous applications received across the state.
Recommended Topics