Why in News:

• Twenty-two Opposition parties met the Election Commission (EC) demanding that tallying of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in five polling booths in each Assembly segment with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) be done prior to the counting of votes.

Details:

• If any discrepancy is found anywhere in the VVPAT verification, hundred per cent counting of paper slips of VVPATs of all polling stations of that Assembly segment should be done, the parties demanded.
• The EC, however, remained non-committal and told them that there would be a special meeting of the full Commission to examine the issue.

Electronic voting machines (EVMs)

• An EVM consists of a “control unit” and a “balloting unit”. The control unit is with the Election Commission-appointed polling officer; the balloting unit is in the voting compartment into where voter casts her vote in secret.
• It runs on a single alkaline battery fitted in the control unit, and can even be used in areas that have no electricity.
• They are manufactured by Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
• VVPATs are an independent verification system designed to allow voters to verify that their votes were cast correctly, to
• detect possible election fraud/malfunction and to provide a means to audit the stored results in case of disputes.

Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)

• In VVPATs, a paper slip is generated bearing serial number, name and symbol of the candidate along with recording of vote in CU. The printed slip is visible (for 7 seconds) in a viewing window attached to BU in voting compartment.
• In Subramaniam Swamy vs ECI (2013), SC said VVPAT is necessary for transparency in voting and must be implemented by ECI.