Panel examining VVPAT slip counting, report soon: CEC

New Delhi: Hinting that the poll panel may consider counting more VVPAT slips in this Lok Sabha polls, as demanded by several political parties, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora here on Sunday said a committee was looking into how many or what percentage of VVPAT slips should be counted in each constituency.

He was responding to a media query about the Opposition parties’ demand that at least 50 per cent of VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) slips should be counted and matched with the electronic voting machine (EVM) results. The parties raised the demand amid apprehensions that EVMs could be manipulated.

At present, VVPAT slips are counted in one randomly selected polling station in each Assembly constituency in case of Assembly elections and one randomly selected polling station of each Assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency.

“The matter is pending in the Supreme Court. But with political parties and other stakeholders raising the issue of counting more paper slips, the EC has appointed a committee of the Indian Statistical Institute to look into the matter,” Arora said.

“The Commission expects the report to come any time, certainly before the polling process gets over. The Commission will discuss the report internally and take a view,” he said.

Each EVM has a VVPAT machine attached to it. Every time a person casts his/her vote, the VVPAT machine churns out a paper slip with the name of the candidate and the party voted for. The slip remains visible for seven seconds before it falls into a collection box.

These slips could be counted later if a candidate has doubts over the EVM result.

Published on: March 10, 2019 at 22:17 IST

IANS