New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and 20 other political leaders, to the Election Commission’s stand that 50% Voter Verification Paper Trail (VVPAT) slip verification in each assembly segment of a Parliamentary Constituency or Assembly Constituency was not feasible, as it would enlarge the time required for counting by six to nine days.
During the resumed hearing of the PIL a Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna granted a week’s time to senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mr Naidu and others to file their reply and posted the matter for further hearing on April 8. The EC had said that adoption of a large sample for slip verification should render the adoption of EVMs as otiose. It is further relevant to mention that any manual count is prone to human errors or deliberate mischief and any large-scale slip verification substantially compounds this likelihood of manual error and mischief in counting of votes.
Under VVPAT, a printer is attached to the Balloting Unit and kept in the voting compartment. The voter after pressing the button on Balloting Unit can view the printed slip on VVPAT through the viewing window and, thus, can verify that the vote is recorded for the candidate of his/her choice. The paper slip remains visible on VVPAT for seven (7) seconds through a transparent window.
The EC pointed out that till date VVPATs have been used by the Commission since 2013, in 1628 Assembly Constituencies and 21 Parliamentary Constituencies.
