Karnataka Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge said that the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) – Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is ready to evaluate the process in a transparent manner.

Priyank Kharge again posted a copy of his letter to the Election Commission on September 6 on the social media platform X on Monday. Kharge said in his letter that he had also written a letter to the Election Commission on December 3, 2024, in which he had expressed concern about the functioning of EVMs and the process related to it and suggested a practical solution to conduct an audit under the supervision of the court with the support of the state government.

It was written in the letter, ‘We have strong technology and research system, so I proposed that Karnataka can do such a transparent process well under the supervision of judicial and industry experts. With this, the system of EVMs will be tightened and public concerns about the transparency of elections will be removed.

Kharge also said that as the Minister of Electronics, Information Technology and Biotechnology, he has formally made similar suggestions before the Election Commission on several occasions. He said, ‘My aim has always been to remove concerns and strengthen public confidence in the system.’

He said that serious questions are being raised about the freedom of institutions and the fairness of our elections, at such a time it becomes even more important to adopt transparency proposals. The minister wrote, ‘The ongoing debate on vote theft, disturbances in Mahadevpura (Bengaluru), EVM renovation in Panipat (Haryana) and the fraud of the public in Aland (Kalburgi) in Aland (Kalburgi) have increased even more amid the concern. Now it is the responsibility of the Commission to remove these doubts and protect the credibility of our democracy.