100% use of VVPAT for Lok Sabha polls: EC

100% use of VVPAT for Lok Sabha polls: EC

1. The Election Commission informed the Madras High Court that there shall be 100% use of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system during the upcoming Lok Sabha election in accordance with the directive given by the Supreme Court in 2013 to gain voter confidence.
2. Earlier, Leaders of opposition parties had demanded that the EC should ensure that 50% of the EVM results were matched and cross-checked with VVPATs before it declared the results in the Lok Sabha election.
3. VVPAT or Voter verifiable paper audit trail is a method to provide feedback to voters using ballot-less or electronic voting system. It was introduced as a pilot project for the first time in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. They are now used in all General and State Assembly Elections.
4. VVPAT allows every voter to see a printed slip for seven seconds to verify and confirm that the vote cast had gone to the candidate of his or her choice. VVPAT is provides for mechanism to detect possible election fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the stored electronic results.