17 parties to approach EC, demand ballot paper for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

New Delhi, Aug 2: Seventeen political parties will be approaching the Election Commission and will be demanding that the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections be conducted on ballot papers, reports new agency ANI quoting sources.

The Congress and other political parties have been alleging that EVMs were tampered during polls and demanding reintroduction of the ballot paper system of voting.

In June, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat had ruled out any possibility of bringing back ballot papers for elections and claimed that EVMs were being made a 'scapegoat' as the machines cannot speak and "political parties needed to blame someone or something for their defeat".

"There is absolutely nothing about the integrity of the system... However, time and again whenever there are eruptions on this, we clarify the issue," Rawat said.

VVPAT is also being used along with EVMs for enhanced transparency and credibility in the voting process, he said.

In April last year, the Centre had approved the purchase of 16.15 lakh VVPAT machines which print a slip for every vote cast, ensuring the vote goes to the intended candidate.