Newspunjab
22 May,2026
The local body elections in Punjab will be held only through ballot papers. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed all the petitions seeking the use of EVMs. The court said that with only four days left for the elections and all the preparations have been completed as per the ballot papers, it is not possible to change the process at this juncture.
Let us tell you that voting for 105 Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in Punjab is to be held on May 26. A public interest litigation was filed by Ruchita Garg, a resident of Mohali, demanding that the elections be conducted through EVMs instead of ballot papers. The petition argued that the Supreme Court has already declared the return to the ballot paper system as impractical and EVMs have also been allowed in Section 64 of the Punjab Act.
During the hearing, the Election Commission of India also rejected the Punjab government’s claim that it takes 15 days to train and prepare the EVM. The commission told the court that only 15 minutes are enough for training the EVM. However, Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi, appearing for the Punjab government, argued that judicial intervention is very limited after the election notification is issued. After hearing the arguments of all the parties, the High Court dismissed the petitions and upheld the order to conduct the elections with ballot papers only.
