EC: 50 per cent VVPAT check will delay poll by six days

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday informed the Supreme Court that 50 per cent Voter Verification Paper Trail (VVPAT) slip verification in each Assembly segment of a Parliamentary constituency is not feasible, as it would delay counting of votes and the electoral process by six days.

In its response to a writ petition filed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and 20 other political leaders demanding 50 per cent VVPAT verification, the EC said, “The 50% VVPAT slip verification in each Assembly segment of a Parliamentary, on an average, shall enlarge the time required for counting to about six days,” the EC said in a 50-page affidavit.

The EC said there is no ground for altering the existing system of random counting of the VVPAT slips from one polling booth per Assembly segment which has been “found to be most suitable” after studies and tests.

“Any further increase in the sample size of verification will lead to very negligible gain in the confidence level, which currently is way above 99.9936 per cent,” the poll panel said.

Sharing its intent to use the existing verification method in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the EC said, “The petition does not raise any ground or base for altering the existing system at this juncture.”

On March 25, the top court had asked the poll panel to give its view on increasing the number of random VVPAT sample surveys.

Opposing any move to increase the VVPAT verification to 50 per cent, the EC said that any manual count is prone to human errors or deliberate mischief and any large-scale slip verification substantially compounds this likelihood.

“It is pertinent to mention that demands for re-count of the VVPAT slips will compound the time requirement,” the affidavit said.

Under VVPAT, a printer is attached to the balloting unit and kept in the voting compartment. The voter after pressing the button on balloting unit can view the printed slip on VVPAT through the viewing window and, thus, can verify that the vote is recorded for the candidate of his/her choice. The paper slip remains visible on VVPAT for seven seconds through a transparent window.

The EC pointed out that since 2013 VVPATs only once has a voter alleging that his/her vote did not go to the candidate made any complaint he had pressed the button in favour of.