The Supreme Court has requested responses from both the Election Commission and the central government regarding a plea advocating for a comprehensive count of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips during elections. Currently, only five randomly selected Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) undergo verification through VVPAT paper slips, a practice challenged by the petitioner.
VVPATs allow voters to verify if their vote was accurately recorded by producing a paper slip.The plea, represented by activist Arun Kumar Agrawal and his legal team, contests the Election Commission’s guideline of sequential VVPAT verification, proposing simultaneous verification for expedited counting. Despite substantial government expenditure on VVPATs, the petition highlights that only a fraction of the slips are currently verified, raising concerns about discrepancies between EVM and VVPAT counts.
Citing past discrepancies and the need for voter confidence in the electoral process, the plea emphasizes the importance of counting all VVPAT slips. It argues for a system where voters can physically verify that their vote was correctly recorded, advocating for a thorough examination of all VVPATs. The Supreme Court has taken note of the matter and incorporated it into existing cases concerning electoral procedures.
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