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Current Affairs
Title : Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
Date : Apr 12, 2024
Description :
Why in News?
Recently the Supreme Court announced that it will address the petitions for 100% verification of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips just before the first phase of voting on April 19, 2024.
What is VVPAT machine?
Introduction:
The VVPAT machine is attached to the balloting unit/ballot unit of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), and provides visual verification of the vote cast by the voter by printing a slip of paper with the voter's choice.
The paper slip with the voter's details is briefly displayed for verification behind a glass window, giving the voter 7 seconds before being dropped into a compartment below.
Voters are not allowed to take home the VVPAT slip as it is used to verify votes in five randomly selected polling stations.
The concept aims to increase confidence in the voting process by assuring both voters and political parties about the accuracy of their votes while enabling physical verification of votes cast electronically.
Reason for introduction og VVPAT:
The concept of VVPAT machines was first proposed in 2010 during a meeting between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and political parties to increase transparency in the EVM-based voting process.
After the prototype was developed, field trials were conducted in Ladakh, Thiruvananthapuram, Cherrapunji, East Delhi and Jaisalmer in July 2011.
This resulted in the VVPAT being approved by an expert committee of the ECI in February 2013.
Legal Aspects:
In the year 2013, the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 were amended to allow connecting a printer with a drop box to the EVM.
VVPAT was first used in the year 2013 in all the 21 polling stations of Noksen Assembly constituency of Nagaland, after which the ECI decided to implement it in a phased manner, leading to 100% adoption by June 2017.
Supreme Court on VVPAT:
In the Subramanian Swamy vs Election Commission of India case, 2013, the Supreme Court made VVPAT mandatory for transparent elections, thereby mandating government funding for their implementation.
In the year 2019, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court, demanding a minimum of 50% of the random VVPAT slips to be counted.
However the Election Commission of India (ECI) has raised concerns about the challenges posed by counting 50% of VVPAT slips, including a potential delay of 5-6 days in declaring election results and infrastructure limitations such as availability of manpower.