• Dr. Sunny Fernandes

For a long time, Indian elections were held through ballot papers and ballot boxes for voting purpose. Due to the weaknesses of ballot papers and ballot boxes, there was a transition to Electronic Voting Machines (E.V.M.s) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (V.V.P.A.T.) for voting purpose. The ‘Balloting System’ and ‘Marking System was replaced by EVMs and VVPATs, which enhanced the credibility, visibility, transparency, verifiability, faster counting, faster results declaration, reduces printing cost and reduces the quantity of paper requirement, thereby saving a large number of trees and makes the election process environment friendly, it removes the chances of invalid and doubtful votes, bogus voting and booth capturing. Ballot papers and ballot boxes were exclusively used during Indian election till 1990s. In 1977, the proposal for using Electronic Voting Machines (E.V.M.s) was done. An Electronic Voting Machine is a simple electronic device, used for recording votes by voters during elections. EVMs and VVPATs are operated by battery. So, no electricity is required for their operation. The Supreme Court of India, in 2011 issued directives to the Election Commission of India (E.C.I.) to include a paper trail, to help confirm the voters, the reliable operation of EVM. The Election Commission of India (E.C.I.) developed EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), which was trailed in the 2014 General Elections in India.

Transition, Ballot Papers, Ballot Boxes, EVMs, VVPATs, Elections.

"“TRANSITION FROM BALLOT PAPERS AND BALLOT BOXES TO EVMs AND VVPATs IN ELECTIONS IN INDIA”", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 5, page no.d765-d771, May-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2505432.pdf

"“TRANSITION FROM BALLOT PAPERS AND BALLOT BOXES TO EVMs AND VVPATs IN ELECTIONS IN INDIA”", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 5, page no. ppd765-d771, May-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2505432.pdf