VVPAT Verification for 50 percent polling stations will take additional six days, Election Commission to Supreme Court

The Election Commission has submitted before the Supreme Court that the present method adopted by the body for counting and verification of votes is the “most suitable” . .If VVPAT slips are to be manually counted for half of the EVMS, the time taken for counting of votes will increase by “about 6 days”, the Election Commission has stated in its affidavit..The affidavit has been filed in response to the petition by twenty-one political leaders from various political parties, seeking seeks physical verification of the VVPAT paper trail for at least 50 percent of the polling stations..The Supreme Court had, on March 25, asked the Election Commission to reply on the same when Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain was present in the Court. The affidavit filed by the EC states,.“The Election Commission of India is always open to bringing about any improvements that would further the cause of free and fair elections. Insofar as the grievances and reliefs prayed for in the instant writ petitions are concerned, these are all matters to which the Election Commission of India has applied itself, and after due studies and tests has arrived at the conclusion that the method as presently adopted has been found to be most suitable.” .Justifying the present system of counting the EC has explained the process of how the paper trail mechanism works. The affidavit explains that VVPATs are not stand alone units and are meant to be used in conjunction with the EVM. The VVPAT exposes the printed slip to the voter for a duration of seven seconds through a transparent window and thus, counting of these slips will only be necessary in case of a discrepancy..“[T]he necessity of counting the printed paper slips would only arise if there is any discrepancy between the results as shown by the EVM and as reflected on the printed paper slip.”.On the specific prayer of cross-verification of 50 percent EVMs, the EC has apprised the Court that for VVPAT slips to be manually counted from half of the EVMS, the time taken for counting of votes will, on an average, increase the time “to about 6 days”..“It is therefore submitted 50% VVPAT slip verification in each assembly segment of a Parliamentary Constituency or Assembly Constituency on an average shall enlarge the time required for counting to about 6 days. It is also relevant to mention that in many Assembly Constituencies, there are more than 400 polling stations, which will require about 8-9 days to complete the VVPAT slip count.”.Other factors such as the need for an increased number of extensively trained personnel to engage in manual counting of VVPATs and larger counting halls are also mentioned as a hurdle in implementing the prayer..The affidavit also states that the issues raised in the petition are not new and similar concerns raised earlier were satisfied by the body before the Supreme Court. The Court had then found the guidelines and the method of dealing with the VVPAT machines to be satisfactory and had expressed no inclination to interfere..Related: Read the Judgment in Subramaniam Swamy vs Union of India “Paper Audit Trail”: SC directs Election Commission to implement VVPAT on nationwide basis.Further, the poll panel has also submitted that while using the VVPAT machines during the 2017 Assembly elections, no foul play was found to be recorded..The Court had, during the previous hearing in the case asked the EC whether it will be able to implement the prayer sought in the petition filed by opposition leaders. The Deputy Election Commissioner had said that the same was “not required..The Court, unimpressed with the response, had directed the EC to file its affidavit on this aspect along with the difficulties that the body might face for implementing the prayer. The matter is scheduled for hearing on Monday, April 1 before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi..Read the affidavit filed by the EC:.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.