In a ruling issued on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions advocating for 100% verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using paper slips generated via the VVPAT method. Additionally, the apex court declined requests to revert to paper ballot voting.
The verdict was delivered by a two-judge bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, who reached a unanimous decision on the matter.
The Supreme Court outlined two key directives as part of its decision. Firstly, it mandated that after the completion of the symbol loading process, the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) must be sealed and stored for a minimum period of 45 days.
Secondly, the apex court ruled that candidates would have the option to request a team of engineers to verify the microcontroller program of EVMs following the announcement of election results. Such a request must be made by the candidate within seven days of the results being declared.