Former Election Commissioner SY Quraishi calls for 100% VVPAT verification during vote counting

Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi on Friday said that 100% of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips should be verified as part of the vote counting process.

Quraishi’s comment, in a social media post, comes just months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail is an independent verification system for electronic voting machines. The process allows voters to check if their votes have been cast correctly.

The system is useful in detecting possible election fraud or malfunctioning of the voting machines. The slips that the VVPAT machines generate can be used to audit voting data stored electronically. The slips are not handed over to the voters, but collected in a separate box.

Currently, slips from only five randomly selected polling stations in each Assembly segment are verified. This is done after the final round of counting of votes, recorded in the electronic voting machines, has concluded.

“[Counting all VVPAT slips] won’t take more than a day,” Quraishi wrote on social media platform X. “But [this will] restore people’s confidence. That’s essential for credible elections.”

I have suggested counting of 100% vvpats. Won’t take more than a day. But restore people’s confidence. That’s essential for credible elections. https://t.co/MvWJqJ2fU2— Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (@DrSYQuraishi) December 29, 2023

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