No demonstration of remote EVMs before political parties after opposition seeks more discussion

The date for political parties to submit written responses has now been extended to February 28 from January 31

No demonstration of the remote electronic voting machines (RVM) before political parties was held after the opposition sought more discussion. The date for political parties to submit written responses has now been extended to February 28 from January 31, according to sources.

The political parties sought for consensus on the issue, the sources said.

Opposition parties questioned the need to deploy remote voting machines and urged the Election Commission (EC) to address the issue of urban apathy towards the poll process.

The EC was scheduled to showcase the remote electronic voting machine (RVM) prototype for migrant voters to representatives of political parties on January 16.

“No opposition party wants to see the demonstration of an RVM. First, the issue of the need to have such a machine should be settled,” senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh told reporters after participating in a meeting of political parties convened by the EC for the demonstration of the workings of an RVM. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said he felt that there would be no RVM demonstration till there is a consensus on having one. No political party is prepared to see the demonstration, he said.

The poll panel had invited eight recognized national parties and 57 recognized State parties for a demonstration on Monday morning.

The letter stated that they have been invited for a “discussion on improving voter participation of domestic migrants using remote voting.”