Elections to the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will be held after May 25 with ballot papers, instead of EVMs, Karnataka State Election Commissioner GS Sangreshi said on Monday.He also said that zilla and taluk panchayat polls, which are expected later this year, will also be held using ballot papers. “Elections will be held tentatively after May 25, after SSLC (Class 10) and PUC (Class 11 and 12) examinations are over, and before June 30,” Sangreshi said.The Supreme Court had last week asked the Karnataka Government and the state election body to hold Bengaluru local body polls by June 30.The State Election Commissioner told reporters that this time the GBA election would be held using ballot papers. “There are two best practices to hold elections. Ballot papers were being used since the beginning, but since 20-30 years ago, EVMs are being used. Use of ballot papers is not barred by law or by the judgements of the Supreme Court,” he said, defending the decision to use ballot papers.In September last year, the Congress government in Karnataka had decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold all the future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state using ballot paper instead of electronic voting machines, claiming erosion of confidence and credibility among the people towards EVMs.Noting that developed countries like America too use ballot papers, the state’s chief election commissioner said, most elections like gram panchayat and cooperative polls were held using ballot papers, except the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. “However, last time, the Bengaluru corporation polls in 2015 were held using EVMs,” he noted.Responding to a question whether the decision to use ballot papers was taken under the government’s pressure, he said the State Election Commission was an independent and constitutional body. As the law provides, the commission has the discretion to decide on whether elections are to be held using ballot papers or EVMs.Sangreshi, in response to another question, said zila and taluk panchayat polls would also be held using ballot papers. “After considering what is good in the present scenario, the SEC felt that use of ballot papers was appropriate. Most of those voting, since the last 20-30 years ago (in Bengaluru) have not seen ballot papers as EVMs are being used. Ballot paper is also a best practice, and throughout the world it is appreciated,” he added.“Using ballot papers doesn’t mean going back to old age. Ballot papers are still being used in several of our elections to gram panchayat, cooperative and MLC polls,” he said.He pointed out that although the Supreme Court had upheld the use of EVMs, it had not said that ballot papers shouldn’t be used. He also assured voters that officers were well equipped to complete the poll process within time.The State Election Commissioner further said that web cameras and CCTV cameras would be installed and adequate security will be ensured using the police force to address concerns about possible rigging of poll. Besides, there will not be any logistical issues. “Everything will be taken care of,” he said.The tenure of the earlier elected body, under the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) expired on September 10, 2020, and since then a government-appointed administrator was taking care of its day-to-day affairs.