Amid the controversy over tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recently-held Assembly polls in five States, the Election Commission will take a call on whether it will also count the percentage of slips from Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) from random polling booths in each Assembly seat, as demanded by some political parties. The percentage has not yet been determined by the EC.
For now, it has pointed that counting 10 per cent of the VVPATs will result in a delay in announcement of results by 5-6 hours and by nearly 10-12 hours if 25 per cent of the paper trails are counted. The EC also said all future elections will be conducted using the VVPATs, which give voters a slip indicating their choice in the polls.
Sources in EC said that the panel is weighing the option that the number of votes generated by VVPAT slips should be physically counted to restore faith in the country's election process. The panel is busy in deliberations on whether 10 or 25 per cent of these voter slips should be counted for each future election.
"The EC will tell the political parties that if it is approved, the declaration of results would be delayed by 5-6 hours," said the sources.
So far, VVPAT slips can only be counted in cases of voter complaints, where the slips have showed an error. In such cases, the voters have also had to sign an undertaking, while the final decision to count the slips was up to the returning officer at the booth. This provision still exists. Slips from VVPAT machines are usually not counted. The machines simply provide voters with a printout of the choice they have made, to avoid any confusion.
The VVPAT system records the candidate and symbol a person voted for but the voter cannot take the receipt home. After voting, the VVPAT machine dispenses a paper slip with the name, serial number and symbol of the candidate voted for.
The EC had recently written to public sector units-Electronic Corp. of India ltd (ECIl) and Bharat Electronics ltd (BEl)-expressing its intent to buy the VVPATs in time for the general election. The purchase of 1,615,000 VVPATs would be made at an estimated cost of Rs3,173.47 crore during 2017-18 and 2018-19. It will purchase 807,500 VVPATs from each PSU by September 2018.
An EVM consists of two Units — a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit — joined by a five-meter cable. The Control Unit is with the Presiding Officer or a Polling Officer and the Balloting Unit is placed inside the voting compartment. Instead of issuing a ballot paper, the Polling Officer in-charge of the Control Unit will press the Ballot Button. This will enable the voter to cast his vote by pressing the blue button on the Balloting Unit against the candidate and symbol of his choice.