Mumbai, Aug.13 (ANI): Chief Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla on Thursday said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tamper proof and no body had succeeded in proving that it could be tampered with.

Interacting with media, Naveen Chawla said: “In the view of the Election Commission, EVMs were and are tamper proof. Nobody has been able to demonstrate that they can be tampered with.”

On the demand by some parties for paper printouts of ballots, Chawla said “we believe a paper trail would foil the essence of democracy, which is secrecy of individual ballot, and it would be seriously compromised.”

“The whole purpose of democracy is that individuals’ preference must be secret and it is the whole pillar of free, fair and transparent election process,” Chawla said.

The CEC also clarified that no demand had been made by any representative of the registered State and Central political parties that polls in Maharashtra should be postponed in view of swine flu

Chawla, who along with other Election Commissioners, reviewed preparations for Maharashtra assembly elections, said the final electoral rolls for the state would be published on August 22.

(ANI)