New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centre's response on petitions seeking the introduction of totalisers for counting votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying it wanted to know what could prevent the use of the system.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Union government to examine the issue and inform the court about any impediments to introducing totalisers.

A totaliser is a device that enables votes from around 14 polling booths to be counted together rather than separately. The petitioners said such a system would help protect voter privacy by preventing the voting pattern of individual localities from becoming publicly identifiable.

"The Union of India may examine the issue of carrying out the necessary amendment in the Conduct of Elections Rules for introduction of totalisers for counting of votes recorded in EVMs," the bench said.

The court also asked the Centre to examine the relevant provisions of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, along with recommendations of the Law Commission of India that included a proposed provision for vote totalisation.

"We would like to know what are the impediments, if any, and whether there would be any negative impact because of introduction of such a mechanism," the bench said.

Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, one of the petitioners, told the court that totalisers were being sought to safeguard the privacy of voters and reduce the possibility of post-poll violence. He said several countries already use the system for these purposes.

Upadhyay also said the Election Commission of India had supported the introduction of totalisers from 2007 until recently.

However, counsel for the Election Commission told the court that there were several hurdles to introducing the mechanism and that a majority of political parties had not agreed to it.

The proceedings were part of a wider petition filed by Upadhyay, Yogesh Gupta and others seeking common electoral rolls for Parliament, Assembly and local body elections, along with measures to save public money and manpower.

The petitioners also challenged the current polling station-wise counting arrangement, saying it can reveal voting patterns in specific localities or pockets.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.