VVPATs of EVMs up to a certain percentage will be subjected to countingUnder pressure from several political parties to check the verifiability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced that the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit (VVPAT) slips of EVMs up to a definite percentage will be subjected to counting in future polls. In an apparent response to AAP’s allegations, Zaidi said at the all-party meeting called to discuss EVMs and other electoral reforms that the Commission has “no favourites” and it was equidistant from all parties. The EC reached its decisions at the end of the grueling eight-hour long session with seven national and 35 state political parties, who emerged divided on holding future elections through EVMs or paper ballots. Parties like the BSP, TMC, RJD and PMK were in favour of doing away with EVMs and instead wanted the EC to employ the “time-tested” method of ballot papers to hold elections. However, other parties such as the Congress, JD(U), CPM, National Conference and LJP wanted the EC to ensure more transparency in the present voting system by introducing extra safeguards.

Source: dna May 13, 2017 01:07 UTC