New Delhi: Amid allegations of tampering to favor the ruling party, the Election Commission of India on Friday said all future elections would be held using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with VVPAT (or voter-verifiable paper audit trail).
"The Commission has stated before the political parties that all future elections henceforth will be held with VVPAT," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters after the all party meeting.
The decision was announced by the Election Commission after it held the meeting in New Delhi with leaders of various political parties following allegations of tampering and rigging of EVMs in recent Assembly and civic polls.
"We will offer opportunity to parties to demonstrate if EVMs used in recent elections were tampered or EVMs can be tampered even with laid down safeguards," Zaidi said.
The decision to use EVMs with VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail system) came after the Election Commission declared to hold its hackathon, which will offer the political parties the opportunity to prove that voting machines used in the recent polls were tampered with.
The development came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demonstrated live in Delhi Assembly how easily using secret codes the EVMs can be tamepred.
The AAP also challenged the Election Commission to provide the party EVMs to be used in the upcoming Gujarat elections and they will show how elections are won by hacking them.