'We Are Against EVM Even If We Win All Seats': Akhilesh Yadav Renews Opposition

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday renewed criticism of electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying the party would continue to oppose their use even if it won every seat in an election.

Speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters, Yadav questioned what he described as the need for multiple layers of technology in the voting process.

“Why is there a need for a machine after a machine?” he asked.

“We have already told you that even if we win all the seats, we are against EVMs,” Yadav said.

He pointed to the United States and Germany while making the case for a return to ballot papers. Yadav questioned why India should continue using EVMs when, according to him, countries such as the US and Germany use paper ballots.

“Since you have such good relations with America, does America not vote through ballot papers?” he asked. Referring to Germany, he said the country was “far ahead of us in technology and research” but had not adopted EVMs.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also raised concerns about voter confidence in the electronic voting system, arguing that the credibility of an election depends on voters being certain that their ballot is recorded for the candidate they chose.

“It is crucial that the voter harbours no doubt that their vote might have been diverted to or counted for another candidate; such an occurrence would effectively amount to the murder of democracy and would destroy the people's faith in the democratic system,” she said, according to ANI.

Mayawati recalled that India used ballot papers for decades after the first general election before shifting to EVMs. She also pointed to the BJP's earlier opposition to electronic voting when the Congress was in power.

“However, surprisingly, after winning the election and forming the central govt, the BJP did not abolish EVMs; instead, it has continued the practice of voting and counting via these very machines,” she said.

The remarks came amid a wider political confrontation over the Election Commission and the conduct of the electoral process. Opposition parties have also criticised the Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and reported differences among its members.

Yadav, who has separately accused the Election Commission of facilitating what he calls “vote theft” in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, said the SP had already worked out its political strategy against the BJP.

“We have already made our strategy to remove the BJP. And without removing the BJP, you cannot remove anyone. The real crisis is the BJP. Once the BJP is removed, all institutions will be fine,” he said.

“The BJP will be removed on its own. The people are ready to remove it this time,” Yadav added.

The Election Commission has previously maintained that its EVMs are standalone machines and are not connected to external networks. The Commission's voter-information material also points to VVPAT slips as an additional mechanism for verifying the vote recorded by the machine.