Call on increasing VVPAT-EVM count after report

Amid demands by parties to increase the number of polling stations where VVPAT slips are matched with EVM results, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Sunday said the poll panel will take a final call on the issue after the Indian Statistical Institute submits a report on it. As of now, voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines are used in all polling stations but results of EVMs and VVPATs are matched in one polling station per constituency.

VVPAT or paper trail machine is a device which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip appears on a small window for seven seconds and then drops in a box. Parties have demanded that 10-30% paper trail slips per constituency be counted to ensure there is no rigging.