NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Saturday rejected Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati’s claim that electronic voting machines were rigged in the Uttar Pradesh elections and said her demand for a repoll using ballot papers was legally untenable.

The Commission also listed a series of mechanical and electronic measures it takes to prevent tampering of the EVM.

It said the judiciary has also endorsed the use of the machines in successive elections. “The prescribed administrative process has been fully complied with in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections in the presence of representatives of political parties and candidates. “The Commission has, therefore, not found any merit in your allegations and the prayers made in your letter under reply are not legally tenable,” it told Mayawati. It said although the poll watchdog has offered opportunities more than once to those alleging the temperability of EVM, no one has been able to demonstrate to it that the EVM used in the country’s election process can be manipulated or tampered with. Terming the results as “shocking”, Mayawati had said the Election Commission should stop the counting and withhold results and hold fresh polls using traditional paper ballots. As results and trends went in favour of the BJP in a big way, she called a press conference in a hurried manner and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to ask the poll panel to hold fresh elections in the state “if they have an iota of morality and honesty left in them.”—PTI