India will be witnessing the fifth general election of this millennium for the Lok Sabha from April to June. In all the four previous elections you pressed a button to elect a candidate of your choice than to mark the candidate of your choice on the ballot paper.

The transformation of the voting process from ballot papers to electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 2004 general elections highlights the technological advancement of the voting system and a significant environmental milestone.

According to an Election Commission of India (ECI) estimate, this transformation has helped save around 1.5 lakh trees, underscoring the ecological benefits of embracing digital solutions.

PAPER TRAIL

Though paper still continues to be used for various purposes in the election process, its use in voting has been eliminated and taken care of by the EVMs. In fact, the first 13 general elections used tonnes of papers for manufacturing ballot papers.

Under the ‘balloting system’ of voting — adopted in the first general election in 1951-52 — ECI decided to put ballot boxes with the symbols pasted outside for each candidate. An elector was required to put a pre-printed ballot paper in the box allocated to his/her choice of candidate in this system.

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This system consumed around 180 tonnes of paper for 60 crore ballot papers then. In the second general election in 1957, India’s paper usage for ballot papers went up to 197 tonnes for 19.36 crore electors.

ECI introduced a ‘marking system’ in the third general election in 1962 where voters marked ballot papers with their chosen candidate’s symbol. By the third general election, the quantity of paper purchased for ballot papers jumped to 710 tonnes for 21.63 crore electors.

 

Of the 13 general elections that used ballot papers, data on consumption of ballot papers is available for only a few elections.

While 1,088 tonnes of paper was purchased for printing ballot papers in 1967’s fourth general election, India used 1,857 tonnes of paper for printing ballot papers in the sixth general elections in 1977.

FROM PULP TO PIXELS

The major shift in general elections for Lok Sabha was seen in 2004 with the introduction of EVM system for voting. It replaced the erstwhile voting method of using ballot papers.

The ‘Narrative Report of the 17th Lok Sabha General Elections 2019’ by ECI said 1.075 million EVMs were used in 543 Parliamentary and 697 Assembly constituencies making the 14th General Elections fully electronic for the first time.

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“The use of EVMs in General Elections 2004 saved around 1.5 lakh trees which would have been cut for the production of about 8,000 tonnes of paper for printing the ballot papers if the traditional system of ballot box was adopted,” it said.

The introduction of the EVM system helped reduce the number of polling stations from 0.77 million to about 0.70 million in that election, as the maximum number of voters per polling station was increased to 1,500 from the earlier prescribed limit of 1,200.

According to the ECI’s publication,  ‘Legal History of EVMs and VVPATs: A compilation and analysis of case laws’ EVMs were used in 148 State Legislative Assembly elections till now.

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