Mysore/Mysuru: Over 4,274 VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails) systems will arrive in Mysuru city at around 11 tonight from the manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.
VVPAT or Verified Paper Record (VPR) is an independent paper record of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). VVPAT is connected with the EVMs through a printer port, which records vote data and counters in a paper slip to verify the correct recording of votes by EVM.
Voters can verify their votes before casting ballots which eliminates chances of electoral fraud and rigging. VVPAT is one of the most important devices introduced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the field of electoral reforms.
The VVPAT systems are being brought from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, for elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 2023. VVPATs will be connected to the 3,958 Control Units and 5,635 Ballot Units (EVMs). The 5,635 Ballot Units have already been brought to Mysuru from ECIL in November 2022.
A team of officers and staff are in transit from Hyderabad under the leadership of Mysuru District EVM and VVPAT Nodal Officer G.T. Dinesh Kumar, who is also the Commissioner of MUDA. The team has left Hyderabad early today after loading the machines and securing them in nine trucks and is expected to reach Mysuru at around 11 pm.
The team comprises 12 election officers drawn from various departments and a nine-member armed team of Policemen. Each truck contains 500 VVPAT systems and according to sources all these machines have been freshly manufactured and tested by ECIL technicians. The ECIL has developed the software for the product.
Once the VVPAT systems arrive in Mysuru, they will be stored at the Election Commission of India’s newly-constructed EVM Warehouse near the new Deputy Commissioner’s Office at Siddarthanagar.
The high-security EVM Warehouse is a dedicated facility and has been built keeping in mind the measures to be taken to protect EVMs, Control and Ballot Units and VVPATs.
Voting Machines and VVPAT systems will be stored as per the Assembly Constituencies that come under the Mysuru District Administration and there are dedicated rooms for that. Each machine will be opened, functioning tested and will be preserved till the election process is complete. Sources said that representatives of political parties and MLAs will be invited for physical checks to have their doubts cleared.
This post was published on February 13, 2023 7:59 pm