‘One more official in each booth will cut VVPAT delay’

‘One more official in each booth will cut VVPAT delay’

1. Opposition parties have argued in the Supreme Court that deployment of one more official and an extra worktable in each polling booth will ‘substantially reduce’ the 5.2-day delay a proposed 50% VVPAT verification will cause.
2. The opposition parties had moved to the SC demanding the random verification of at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) using Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in every Assembly segment or constituency. They have argued that this would increase voter confidence and make the electoral process more transparent.
3. However, the Election Commission had objected the opposition parties’ demand and argued before the SC that increasing VVPAT verification to 50% would delay Low Sabha election results 5.2 days.
4. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent system attached to an EVM that allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. At present, VVPAT slips in one randomly chosen polling station per constituency are tallied with EVM results.