Sam Pitroda, Civil Society Plan Int’l Election Panel to Monitor 2024 Polls
27 January 2024
Sam Pitroda and the Citizens’ Commission on Elections (CCE), have announced to form an International Election Panel to monitor 2024 elections during an online Zoom press conference on Thursday evening. This group will comprise seven members, including four from overseas and the panel is likely to take final shape by February.
Pitroda, an internationally respected telecom inventor, entrepreneur, development thinker, and policymaker, while talking in detail about the complexity of EVM and VVPAT machines and the controversies time and again, said no matter what the problem is as concerned citizens we have lost the trust in EVM machines and therefore we have no option left but to go back to the paper ballot.
“All kinds of complications have been created in the last few years. 2024 election is the most important election in the recent history of India. It will decide the destiny of a nation for a long time to come. Hence there is a larger concern. There will be elections in about 40 different countries and everywhere democracy is at crossroads, especially for people like me who study these things on and off,” Pitroda told media persons and concerned people.
Replying to a question, Pitroda said civil society groups are to assert and put pressure on the Election Commission to go back to paper ballots as people have lost trust in EVM machines. Now the elections are just about two, three months away and therefore we have no option but to go back to the paper ballots to ensure transparency and revive the trust of the people in our electoral system.
The CCE convenor M.G. Devasahayam said, “We in the civil society proposed to set up an international election monitoring group to monitor the elections of the 2024 parliament election. And preliminary work is already on and by the middle of February the group will be in place and I am sure they will keep a close watch and see that these elections are held in a free and fair manner with integrity.”
