5 Aug 2009, 1634 hrs IST

CHENNAI, India: AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, who has been strongly critical of electronic voting machines, today cited the issue of reliability of the EVMs, a reason for boycotting the August 18 assembly bypolls in five seats in Tamil Nadu.

Noting the recent demonstration by an NGO that EVMs can be tampered with, she said, "This should come as an eye-opener not only to the Election Commission, but also to the voting public," and added," In a democracy, every voter should know whether the vote cast has gone to the candidate or party it was meant for."

In the absence of such certainty, the entire democratic process would be rendered a "mockery", she said in a statement here. "It is to ensure that democracy in its true sense is brought back that AIADMK decided to boycott the bypolls.

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