Page 93 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Democracy Marches Ahead Chapter 3

The two important electoral breakthroughs in the In February 1983, Elec on Commission had only 196 EVMs
1980s were - manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited. It was already
a) introduc on of the Electronic Vo ng Machine; and thinking about introducing EVMs throughout the country
at a cost es mated between INR 150 to 165 crores.
b) lowering the threshold age of vo ng from 21 to 18 years.
However, soon an adverse legal verdict put the clock back.
Electronic Vo ng Machine (EVM) was first used at Parur On March 5, 1984 the Hon'ble Supreme Court set aside the
Cons tuency during the mid-term assembly polls in elec on of Sivan Pillai from Parur Cons tuency on the
Kerala in May, 1982. A total of 50 EVMs were used in that ground that use of the EVM violated the provisions of
elec on. Buoyed by the success of the experiment, the Representa on of the People Act, 1951 and Rules
EVMs were employed alongside ballot boxes in assembly prescribed therein. The apex court held that EVMs could
polls in Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tripura, not be introduced in absence of a piece of legisla on. It was
Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar during 1982-83. Elec on not before five years that Ar cle 61A was inserted into the
Commission of India's Annual Reports (a new but short Representa on of the People's Act, 1951. The amendment
lived feature during 1980s) for the years 1983 and 1984 authorising the use of the EVMs was no fied w.e.f. March
inform how different poli cal par es preferred the EVMs 15, 1989. However, poli cal indecisiveness impeded the re-
over conven onal ballots. introduc on of the EVMs for a long me therea er.

The journey of democracy from ballot boxes to EVMs

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