They have added that different sizes of random counts in different constituencies would have been a more reliable option. The Election Commission had pointed out that its own planned random counts in one polling station from each of the 4,125 Assembly segments was 8.6 times the counts recommended by the panel. “It could be 0.2 per cent or 20 per cent, depending on victory margins in each constituency,” Maulik said. This is exactly the argument by the ISI researchers — that the random counts will vary constituency to constituency depending on the sensitivity of a constituency. “A victory margin of 300,000 votes in a typical parliamentary constituency will likely require very few VVPAT counts, while a victory margin of only 3,000 votes would likely require over 50 per cent of VVPAT counts,” Maulik said.

Source: The Telegraph May 07, 2019 23:15 UTC