The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora put all the speculations to rest whether ballot papers would be used in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. “I would like to make it very clear that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers,” he said as quoted by The New Indian Express.

With less than three months left for the General Elections, the calls by opposition parties to scrap use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are growing louder. The CEC made it crystal clear that while the commission was open towards any type of criticism from any stakeholder, it will not be bullied, intimated or coerced into giving up the use of EVMs.

Several political parties which include Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have reiterated their demands for the return to the ballot paper era,

“Keeping the larger interest of democracy in view, it is essential to look into the EVM matter so that it gets resolved soon. It’s possible to validate ballot paper but it’s not the case with the EVM. We demand EC to hold 2019 General Election using ballot paper, taking this into cognizance,” said BSP supremo Mayawati citing her demands to use ballot papers.

The announcements came in the wake of alleged EVM hackathon in London where a US-based cyber expert made bizarre allegations on the possibility of hacking of EVMs.

Also read: EC Rubbishes EVM Hacking Claims Made In London Press Meet Attended By Kapil Sibal, Mulls Legal Action