What is VVPAT?

NEW DELHI: VVPAT is a machine that is used in elections to verify that the citizen’s vote has been correctly placed. VVPAT means Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. In times of political mudslinging about EVM tampering, a paper trail ensures that voter faith remains intact, strengthening participatory democracy.

The VVPAT machine gives instant feedback to the voter, through a printed slip. Essentially, after a voter presses the button confirming their vote for their chosen candidate or NOTA, the VVPAT machine prints a slip containing the name of the candidate and the corresponding election symbol and automatically drops it in a sealed box.

The VVPAT is placed in a transparent glass case, allowing the voter to see the vote. The voter slip is then displayed to the voter for about seven seconds. Then it is dropped in the storage box and a beep confirms this action. The VVPAT can be accessed by the polling officials, but not by the voters.


The Election Commission of India has repeatedly refuted claims of EVM tampering but VVPATs have been used in some elections, presumably in order to boost voter faith in the system. Opposition parties have been repeatedly demanding that the Election Election introduce VVPAT to ensure free and fair elections. The political parties have also been demanding that at least 50 per cent of VVPAT slips should be counted and matched with total vote count recorded by EVMs.

In lieu of such demands, the Election Commission had engaged the Indian Statistical Institute to arrive at a "mathematically sound, statistically robust and practically cogent solution" by scientifically analysing the issue of VVPAT slip verification with electronic count of the EVMs.

At the moment, the VVPAT slips are counted in a randomly-selected polling station in each Assembly constituency or Parliamentary constituency depending upon the nature of elections being held.