Fact check: Did the Electoral Commission say it intended to use the ballot papers?

Will this election be conducted using ballot papers? A social media post with a newspaper clipping claimed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced new guidelines in this regard. The news states that voting will be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs (electronic voting machines). It also includes the perspectives of multiple stakeholders supporting the ECI’s decision. This article is intended to fact-check the accuracy of the information provided.

An archived version of this article can be found here.

claim: The Election Commission announced new guidelines indicating that voting will be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs.

fact: The Election Commission of India has not issued any new guidelines indicating the use of ballot papers for elections. In fact, as per the official schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the commission plans to conduct the elections using EVMs. Recently, the Supreme Court rejected petitions arguing for the use of ballots in elections. Therefore, the statement in the post is incorrect.

Recently, the Election Commission of India announced the complete schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and issued a notification for the first phase of the elections. However, the commission has not announced any intention to use the ballots for elections.

According to Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, the Election Commission of India has the power to supervise, guide and manage parliamentary elections. Furthermore, in 1988, Parliament amended the Representation of the People Act, 1951, introducing Section 61A, which empowered the Election Commission to use electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Even in the official schedule released recently, the ECI announced that the elections will be conducted using EVMs. Contrary to claims of virality, the ECI has not announced any inclination to use ballot papers for polls.

It is important to stress that the Supreme Court recently rejected a defense asserting the use of ballots in an election. In dismissing the petition, the court expressed confidence in the reliability of the EVM. The Supreme Court and several state high courts have previously rejected similar requests.

Read | Supreme Court dismisses petitions against use of EVMs in elections

Earlier, the Supreme Court in a major ruling recently declared electoral bonds unconstitutional and invalidated them. The court held that electoral bonds violated the right to information under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. However, there are no court judgments or orders regarding EVM.

Furthermore, the government and especially the Election Commission of India have dismissed claims of using ballot papers to conduct elections. When certain YouTube channels spread misinformation about EVMs, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) categorically refutes these claims as false.

All in all, the Election Commission did not declare the use of ballot papers to conduct elections, avoiding the use of EVMs.

This story was originally published by factand was re-released by NDTV as part of Shakti Collective.