SC asks Centre to weigh totaliser-based EVM counting to shield booth-level voter secrecy

The Supreme Court has asked the Central government to examine the feasibility of introducing totaliser machines for counting votes recorded in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The request came from a Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

The court's query is aimed at protecting the secrecy of booth-wise voting patterns. Currently, votes are tallied booth by booth, which can reveal how a particular polling station voted. The Bench has asked the government to state whether there are any impediments to introducing such a mechanism and whether it would have any negative impact. The Election Commission of India has also been asked to submit its proposal on the matter to the Union government.

A totaliser is a device that allows votes cast in a cluster of about 14 polling booths to be counted together. Developed by Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, it connects to the main control units of multiple EVMs. Pressing the result button on the totaliser provides a consolidated count for each candidate across that group, without disclosing the votes polled area-wise.

The matter traces back to a 2014 public interest petition filed by Yogesh Gupta and Imran Khan. They sought a direction to the poll panel to mix votes across polling stations in a constituency. The petitioners argued that revealing booth-wise patterns allows candidates to identify and intimidate voters in areas that did not support them. They cited an alleged instance involving late former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Baramati, who purportedly threatened voters with water supply cuts if they did not back his party, claiming the voting pattern could be detected from EVM readings.

The Central government has historically opposed totalisers. In 2017, it told the Supreme Court that booth-wise vote identification did not lead to intimidation and that such data helped candidates work harder in weaker areas. A law ministry affidavit had noted that a group of ministers, then headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, decided that large-scale intimidation was unlikely in the current era of media activism. In 2018, the government raised concerns that totalisers could cause a data breach even before counting begins.

The Election Commission, however, has consistently supported the measure. It first suggested totalisers to the UPA government in 2008. In a 2018 submission, the poll body said the time had come for their introduction. During the current hearings, the EC reiterated its earlier recommendation, with its counsel backing the goal of protecting voter anonymity while flagging practical and legal challenges, including concerns around booth-wise verification and VVPAT.