The Election Commission informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it would introduce VVPAT systems at all poll booths for the 2019 general elections.
The Telegraph reports that 16 lakh VVPAT machines will be procured from PSU’s Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.
The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail keeps a paper trail which can be tallied with the figures from the electronic voting machines (EVMs). A machine costs about Rs 16,200 and the total amount to be spent on the exercise is about Rs 2,616 crore, which the EC will reportedly use from the Rs 3,174 crore it seeks from the Centre.
The commission says that VVPATs have been used for 266 Assembly election seats and nine Lok Sabha seats since 2013.
The call for VVPAT systems grew louder after an EVM machine malfunctioned in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh and after political parties said EVMs were allegedly ‘tampered’ with in Maharashtra.
In April, sixteen opposition parties had urged the Election Commission to revert to the paper ballot system saying that the alleged tampering has created trust deficit in the credibility of the EVMs.
However, the poll body has been maintaining that EVMs are tamper proof and cannot be manipulated.
The Union Cabinet had earlier given its nod to sanctioned funds of nearly Rs 3200 crore rupees to procure more than 16 lakh VVPATs as sought by the EC.
In May, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), during a special session of the Delhi assembly, conducted a live demonstration on how EVMs can be tampered with.
Reacting to the demonstration, the poll panel said the machine used to conduct live demonstration was a 'look-alike'' which was made to function in a 'tampered' manner.
The Election Commission had held a demonstration in June this year after to clarify that the machines could not be hacked. The NCP and the CPM had attended the demonstration, with only the former participating. The EC later said both parties were satisfied with the presentation.
With Agency Inputs
