Karnataka: Amid SIR debate, Congress pushes for ballot papers in local polls

In a move that reopens India’s long-running debate on electoral credibility, the Karnataka cabinet has recommended replacing electronic voting machines (EVMs) with ballot papers in all future local body elections. It also authorised the State Election Commission (SEC) to prepare, revise, and if needed, redo electoral rolls.

Law minister H.K. Patil said the step was essential to restore public trust in the system. “The cabinet is going to recommend holding elections through ballot papers and not with EVMs. We’ll also recommend that the State Election Commission prepare the voters’ list. This is because the credibility of EVMs has eroded,” he stated.

The SEC will now decide whether to act on the recommendation. "This is a political decision we have taken. The government has the power to recommend it to the SEC, and they will abide by it. The government believes in the ballot system. There is nothing wrong with this cabinet decision," said Karnataka deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar.

The decision comes amid Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi’s repeated claims that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka were “stolen” through manipulation of voter rolls, using the Assembly segment of Mahadevapura in Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency as an example. Gandhi alleged duplicate names, fake addresses and misuse of Form 6, calling it “vote chori (theft)”.

As per political watchers, for the Congress, the move also fits into a larger strategy: reviving the call for ballot papers nationwide. Since its defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the party has consistently alleged that EVMs are prone to manipulation and that paper ballots remain the only safeguard for transparency.

But the push runs counter to judicial and institutional positions. The Supreme Court had dismissed a petition seeking paper ballots, with Justice Nath caustically observing: “When you win the election, EVMs are not tampered. When you lose, EVMs are tampered.”

The Election Commission, too, has repeatedly defended EVMs as secure and reliable. Predictably, the BJP has slammed the Karnataka cabinet’s decision as politically motivated.

Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar said: “The ballot paper system is rejected by almost all countries in the world. Everybody is using the EVM. To divert attention from their failures and to please Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar have decided to go back to ballot papers. It is the worst decision this government has taken. The entire state and the whole nation know what happened when ballot papers were used earlier.”

The BJP leader is less than accurate, of course, when he says 'everybody is using the EVM', because several Western democracies continue to use paper ballots, among them England, France, The Netherlands and the U.S.

The Congress’ decision could sharpen the national debate on electoral reforms, especially as questions around electoral integrity ranging from SIR to EVM transparency, grow louder. Whether Karnataka’s experiment stays confined to local body elections or fuels a broader challenge to EVMs in state and national polls remains to be seen.