Supreme Court asks Centre to examine totaliser system for EVM vote counting

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union government to examine the feasibility of introducing a totaliser system for counting votes recorded on Electronic Voting Machines, a mechanism that would aggregate results from multiple polling booths to protect voter anonymity. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought the Centre's formal position on the proposal, which has been recommended by the Law Commission but faces opposition from most political parties. The court was hearing petitions arguing that the current practice of declaring results boothwise exposes voters to potential intimidation and post-poll violence, as it allows parties to identify voting patterns at specific locations. A totaliser would combine votes from a cluster of EVMs, making it difficult to determine how any single booth voted. The petitioners contended that this would safeguard voter privacy and prevent victimisation. During the hearing, Chief Justice Kant questioned the necessity of the change, noting that the existing transparent counting process allows for the detection of discrepancies.