New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS): A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission to stop using electronic voting machines (EVM) and instead use ballot paper in any forthcoming elections. The plea claimed that EVMs are not safe, as they are vulnerable to hacking.

The plea has been moved by Kanyakumari-based advocate C. R. Jaya Sukin claimed that many developed countries - US, Japan, Germany -- do not conduct voting through EVMs, as doubts have been raised on their accuracy. As per an estimate, 31 countries used or studied the EVMs, only 4 used it nationwide, 11 used EVMs in some parts or small elections, added the plea.

This should indicate that EVMs are not satisfactory instruments to be used for the electoral process of a country. EVMs can be hacked. But the ballot system extremely safe", said the plea.

The plea argued that EVMs can be hacked is a threat that has been given not only in India, but in many other countries, which is why a number of them have banned the voting machines. "Electronic Voting Machines ("EVM"), like all other machines, are prone to errors and malfunctioning. No machine ever made anywhere in the world is infallible", added the plea.

The plea contended that EVMs must be replaced across India with traditional ballot papers, as voting through ballot papers is a more reliable and transparent method for the electoral process of any country.

The plea argued that fake display units could be installed in the electronic voting machines which would show manipulated numbers and fake votes could be generated from the back end. "most of the electronic voting machines used in the country do not have any mechanism by which the voter can verify their identity before casting the vote due to which fake voters can cast numerous fake votes", added the plea.