Revision summary
Article 324 and the 1951 Act make the Election Commission responsible for a trustworthy poll, not only for a working machine. The Supreme Court required VVPAT, but sample slip-counting remains too small in the eyes of many parties. Storage, randomisation, mock poll and same-day mismatch data are the operational weak points. SVEEP and all-party technical briefings must explain the paper trail, not only turnout. A larger, statistically designed VVPAT audit is the practical way to keep EVMs without a trust crash.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD A[Article 324 ECI] --> E[EVM plus VVPAT] E --> T[Public and party trust] T --> V[Visible audit and mock poll] T --> C[SVEEP and all-party briefings] V --> F[Trusted election result]
Conclusion
- Publish booth-wise mock-poll and VVPAT-mismatch data on the same day, and raise VVPAT verification on a statistically defensible sample agreed with recognised parties.
- Institutionalise a standing all-party technical committee, with the Indian Statistical Institute or a similar public body for audit design, so sampling is not seen as an in-house choice.
- Keep paper ballots only as a last-resort contingency; the reform is a stronger audit trail, not a return to booth-level paper capture.
The Election Commission can keep EVMs only if voters can verify that the machine recorded their choice and that a public audit would catch a fraud. Article 324 already gives the Commission the power; trustworthiness now depends on larger VVPAT checks, open logistics, and plain-language communication, not on a slogan that the machine is “tamper-proof”.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Whether National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) can enforce the implementation of constitutional reservation for the Scheduled Castes in the religious minority institutions? Examine.
Next question in the 2018 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Did the Supreme Court ban EVMs?
No. It insisted on a paper trail (VVPAT) with the machine so that a vote can be verified, and later fixed a sample for slip counting.
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Can the Election Commission switch back to ballot papers on its own for the whole country?
It can prescribe the method of voting under the law, but a nationwide return to paper would undo booth-capture and invalid-vote gains. The live reform is a stronger, public VVPAT audit.
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