EC to demonstrate paper trail machines in Gujarat, Himachal
NEWDELHI: The Election Commission will familiarise voters in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with paper trail machines, which will be rolled out with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming assembly polls.
Paper trail machines, attached to EVMs, allow voters to see who they have voted for for a brief seven-second period, after which the slips are dropped into a box. A percentage of these slips will now be used for matching the vote count stored in the EVMs.
Teams of officials will travel across the states to demonstrate how the EVMs with the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines work and how electors will be able to authenticate who they have voted for.
Both the 182-member Gujarat assembly and the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly end their terms in January 2018.
The EC has announced that all forthcoming elections will be conducted using EVMs with VVPAT machines after the Supreme Court prodded the poll panel to introduce the machines to ensure transparency. Opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress too have demanded the use of paper trail machines after expressing doubts about the safeguards of EVMs.
EC officials said newer papertrail machines are being added to their existing stock that was used during polls earlier. The commission needs 70,000 units of VVPATs for Gujarat and 15,000 for Himachal Pradesh elections.
Earlier this year, the Centre sanctioned over ₹3,000 crore to the panel for purchase of 16.5 lakh VVPAT units from Electronics Corporation of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited that also manufacture EVMs.
During the state elections this year, VVPAT units were used in 76 assembly constituencies — 40 in constituencies of Goa, four in Uttarakhand, 20 in UP, four in Manipur and eight in Punjab.
“Apart from programmes on radio, television and social media outreach, officials will visit every block in these states to conduct demonstrations. Local celebrities will be roped in to help with the publicity,” an official said. Panchayats will collaborate by assisting in sending mobile exhibition vans and street play teams to faroff constituencies.