The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, used in Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West constituencies for the first time, were welcomed by the voters. Though there were few instances of some machines having to be replaced because of printer malfunction. A large number of voters, however, learnt about new facility only after coming to the booth.
Amitabh Sengupta, a resident of Golmuri, said that he was happy to use VVPAT for the first time. It will pave way for transparency. Though some people get confused because there is a 7-second gap between the pressing of the button and the beep sound being heard but it feels good to the new initiative.
“The administration had publicized the new initiative and I also saw the poster displayed at the polling both. It is good. We can verify if the vote has been cast right,” said Manpreet Singh of Bistupur.
When contacted the DC Amitabh Kaushal said the district administration had cleared doubts amongst political party candidates and their representatives on the use of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) in EVMs and the response has been good. The district had worked out a mechanism to bring transparency in the election process.
VVPAT was introduced in two assembly segments (out of six assembly segments) of East Singhbhum district namely Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West. “The VVPAT enabled a voter to know if his or her vote has gone to candidates against whose symbol the EVM button was pressed by voter,” said district electoral officer.