Supreme Court Seeks Election Commission's Explanation on Increasing Polling Station Voter Limit

The Supreme Court has sought a response to a petition challenging the Election Commission's decision to increase the maximum number of voters at a polling station from 1200 to 1500. The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission to file an affidavit detailing the entire process in three weeks. The next hearing of the case will be on January 17, 2025.

The bench of CJI Sanjeev Khanna has asked the Election Commission to explain how an EVM, which can take 1500 votes, meets the needs of a polling station with more than 1500 voters. It has also been asked to explain that if only 45 votes can be cast in a machine per hour, then how can it accommodate all 1500 votes if there is 100 percent voting from 6 am to 5 pm?

During the hearing of the case, Maninder Singh, appearing on behalf of the Election Commission, said, 'Notice should not be issued in this matter. The decision to cast 1500 votes in one EVM is not new, it is from the year 2019 and no one has complained since then. What can be done if everyone starts coming at 3 pm? When you go in the morning, there is no crowd. Many allegations are being made against EVMs, but none of them have any basis.'

Let us tell you that the petitioner Indu Prakash Singh has challenged two instructions issued by the Election Commission in August 2024. The petition states that due to the decision of the Commission, long queues at the polling booths and long waits to cast votes will discourage voters from voting.