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Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
One RTI question but multiple answers. Surprised? Yes, even we are. The Quint sent a Right To Information query to Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer or CEO in January 2020 asking a simple question,
“Kindly allow the inspection of VVPAT slips used in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in all seven constituencies” in Delhi.
But we got three different RTI replies from five of Delhi’s District Election Officers or DEOs -
The First reply said - The VVPAT slips have been disposed off. Meaning, destroyed. So no question of looking at them.
The Second reply said - The VVPAT slips used in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections are lying sealed at a District Warehouse. But no clarity on whether we can inspect them or not.
And the Third reply was - At present, the inspection of VVPAT slips used in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections cannot be allowed, as the matter is sub-judice.
Now before we figure why we got 3 different replies to the same question and what the truth may be, lets go back to the first reply – which we got on 28 January 2020, from Delhi’s East District Election Officer – saying -
This RTI reply also shared a letter issued by Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer instructing all seven Parliamentary Constituencies to follow the EC’s orders and destroy used VVPAT slips.
Based on this, on 8th February 2020, The Quint published an article asking “Why did the EC destroy VVPAT slips from the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls in such a hurry?
We highlighted Rule 94 (b) of the Conduct of Election Rules, which says -
Do note that printed or used VVPAT slips are crucial evidence in trying to detect possible tampering or manipulation of the voting process.
Considering the seriousness of the issue, an application was filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in the Supreme Court in February 2020 based on The Quint’s article, making two requests -
First - direct the EC not to destroy or dispose off VVPAT paper slips generated in any election in the last one year, and to retain them, as per the rules, for at least one year.
And second - direct the EC to retain all other documents pertaining to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
That matter is still pending in the Supreme Court.
But like I said at the start, we actually got multiple replies to our RTI query asking to inspect VVPAT slips. DEOs from 5 out of Delhi’s 7 parliamentary constituencies replied.
Of the 5 replies, two said that the used VVPAT slips had been destroyed, two said they were lying in warehouses, and one said they can’t share the information.
But we also have the letters written by the EC and the Delhi CEO clearly saying that VVPAT slips should be destroyed which means that at least two Delhi DEOs did not comply with the EC’s order.
So, here are the questions we would like to ask the Election Commission:
And also, why did the Election Commission order the destruction of used VVPAT slips less than 4 months after the 2019 General Elections when that is clearly against the law?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)