The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to spell out its position on introducing a “totaliser” system for counting votes recorded through EVMs, a proposal aimed at preventing candidates from determining the voting pattern of individual polling booths.Totaliser is a device that allows votes cast in about 14 polling booths to be counted together, thereby protecting the secrecy of voting patterns. It prevents voters at individual polling booths from being identified and potentially victimised for their electoral choices.A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana sought to know from the Centre if there were any impediments to introduction of such a mechanism and if there would be any negative impact due to it.“The Union of India may examine the issue of carrying out the necessary amendment in the Conduct of Elections Rules for introduction of totalisers for counting of votes recorded in EVMs. We would like to know what are the impediments, if any, and whether there would be any negative impact because of the introduction of such a mechanism,” the Bench said.It directed the Centre to examine election rules and the recommendations made by the Law Commission of India, including the proposed provision for totalisation.It also asked the Election Commission to submit its proposal to the Centre.The direction came on a PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, Yogesh Gupta and others which also sought a direction for common electoral rolls for Parliament, Assembly and local body polls to save public money and manpower. The petitioners have also sought a direction to the authorities to take steps to use totaliser for counting of votes to avoid victimisation of voters.Upadhyay submitted that introduction of the totaliser system would ensure privacy of the voters and prevent post-poll violence. “The EC, from 2007 and up to a few days back, even before the reply filed yesterday, has always supported the totaliser,” he said.On behalf of the Election Commission, senior counsel Dama Seshadri Naidu said it supported the principle of anonymising voter choice but flagged practical difficulties with the proposal. There were several impediments in introduction of totalisers and the majority of political parties have not agreed to it, Naidu told the Bench. Naidu pointed out that candidates and their agents currently received a copy of Form 17C at the close of polling and could use it to verify the results during counting. With a totaliser aggregating votes from several booths, such booth-wise verification would not be possible, he submitted.The PIL referred to the provisions of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, under which votes in the EVMs are to be counted polling station-wise, the petitioners said this led to situations where voting patterns in various localities or pockets become known to everyone.