EC Sets Up Team to Probe EVM-VVPAT Mismatch During 2019 LS Polls
The EC decided to set up the team only after at least seven cases of mismatch were reported in the media.
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The Election Commission of India (EC) has set up a team to analyse the mismatch in the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) and VVPAT (Votes Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) count during the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
The EC decided to set up the team after at least seven cases of mismatch were reported in the media.
It must be noted that immediately after the counting was over, the EC reportedly said that all 20,625 EVMs in 4,129 Assembly constituencies had been successfully matched with VVPAT slips.
The question now is, why is the EC setting up a team to analyse the mismatch only after the media has reported it?
The Quint filed an RTI with the EC seeking the details of the VVPAT slip count in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
The EC, however, refused to share these very details on the grounds that they are not available with the Commission, but that they could be accessed with the State Election Commissions.
Citing a 21 May notice issued by the EC, the Commission told The Quint that a thorough probe will be conducted in case of a mismatch, which could be due to technological error, human error or lapses in compliance. As of now, the EC has not officially confirmed the number of cases in which mismatches have been found.
EC Maintains EVMs Are ‘Completely Non-Tamperable’
On Wednesday, 24 July, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said, quoting the EC, that there is "no technical collaboration with any foreign establishment" to manufacture EVMs.
Ahead of the recent Lok Sabha election, several opposition parties had questioned the reliability of the voting machines and urged the EC to go back to the ballot paper system. But the EC has asserted that EVMs are "here to stay" and that it won't go back to ballot papers.
(With inputs from PTI)