New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that since 2019, the Election Commission of India, barring one discrepancy, has not found a single case of vote mismatch or incorrect recording of votes on random VVPAT verification of five polling stations per assembly constituency. Is.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, or VVPAT, is an independent vote verification system that enables voters to see whether their votes have been recorded correctly.
On April 8, 2019, the apex court had directed the Election Commission to conduct random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs at five polling stations per assembly constituency or parliamentary constituency.
"ECI has conducted random VVPAT verification of 5 polling stations per Assembly segment/constituency for 41,629 EVM-VVPATs. Additionally, more than 4 crore VVPAT slips have been matched with the electronic count of their control units.Not a single case of mismatch or incorrect recording of votes has been detected, the SC said.
The bench said that under Rule 56D of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, which deals with checking of paper trails, returning officers have allowed VVPAT slip recounts in 100 cases since 2017.
"In all cases the count of VVPAT slips matches the electronic count recorded in the control unit," the bench said. The bench said, “Physical counting of 20,687 VVPAT slips was done in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and except in one case, there was no discrepancy or mismatch."Noted."
Referring to the sole discrepancy, the bench said it had come to light during the mandatory verification of VVPAT slips in polling station 63 of Mydukur assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.
“Upon verification, it was found that the discrepancy arose due to failure by the Presiding Officer to delete the mock poll data,” it said, “although it is not possible to rule out human errors, as per paragraph 14.5 of Chapter 1 of the EVM And the manual on VVPAT deals with such situations and prescribes the protocol that is to be followed."
On the performance of EVMs, the bench said that since the introduction of EVMs, more than 118 crore voters have cast their votes.
“In 2019, around 61.4 crore voters had cast their votes across 10.35 lakh polling stations.In the 2019 general elections, 23.3 lakh ballot units, 16.35 lakh control units and 17.40 lakh VVPA units were used.
"For the 2024 general elections, 10.48 lakh polling stations have been set up to enable 97 crore registered voters to cast their votes. 21.6 lakh ballot units, 16.80 lakh control units and 17.7 lakh VVPAT units have been made ready for use " " It said.
The bench said that during the hearing, its attention was drawn to Rule 49MA, which allows a voter to complain about the mismatch between the name and symbol of the candidate shown on the paper slip extracted from the VVPAT and the vote cast thereon. gives.Ballot Unit.
"Such an elector is required to make a written declaration to the Presidential Officer. There are 26 cases in which electors have complained under Rule 49MA. There is not a single case in which any mismatch or lacuna has been found," it said. Said.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, or VVPAT, is an independent vote verification system that enables voters to see whether their votes have been recorded correctly.
On April 8, 2019, the apex court had directed the Election Commission to conduct random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs at five polling stations per assembly constituency or parliamentary constituency.
"ECI has conducted random VVPAT verification of 5 polling stations per Assembly segment/constituency for 41,629 EVM-VVPATs. Additionally, more than 4 crore VVPAT slips have been matched with the electronic count of their control units.Not a single case of mismatch or incorrect recording of votes has been detected, the SC said.
The bench said that under Rule 56D of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, which deals with checking of paper trails, returning officers have allowed VVPAT slip recounts in 100 cases since 2017.
"In all cases the count of VVPAT slips matches the electronic count recorded in the control unit," the bench said. The bench said, “Physical counting of 20,687 VVPAT slips was done in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and except in one case, there was no discrepancy or mismatch."Noted."
Referring to the sole discrepancy, the bench said it had come to light during the mandatory verification of VVPAT slips in polling station 63 of Mydukur assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.
“Upon verification, it was found that the discrepancy arose due to failure by the Presiding Officer to delete the mock poll data,” it said, “although it is not possible to rule out human errors, as per paragraph 14.5 of Chapter 1 of the EVM And the manual on VVPAT deals with such situations and prescribes the protocol that is to be followed."
On the performance of EVMs, the bench said that since the introduction of EVMs, more than 118 crore voters have cast their votes.
“In 2019, around 61.4 crore voters had cast their votes across 10.35 lakh polling stations.In the 2019 general elections, 23.3 lakh ballot units, 16.35 lakh control units and 17.40 lakh VVPA units were used.
"For the 2024 general elections, 10.48 lakh polling stations have been set up to enable 97 crore registered voters to cast their votes. 21.6 lakh ballot units, 16.80 lakh control units and 17.7 lakh VVPAT units have been made ready for use " " It said.
The bench said that during the hearing, its attention was drawn to Rule 49MA, which allows a voter to complain about the mismatch between the name and symbol of the candidate shown on the paper slip extracted from the VVPAT and the vote cast thereon. gives.Ballot Unit.
"Such an elector is required to make a written declaration to the Presidential Officer. There are 26 cases in which electors have complained under Rule 49MA. There is not a single case in which any mismatch or lacuna has been found," it said. Said.
