Photo of an EVM with VVPAT.
Credit: DH File Photo/SK Dinesh
The results for the Bihar assembly elections will be declared on November 14. While it may be seen as a contest between the National Democratic alliance (NDA) and the Opposition INDIA bloc, the emergence of Prashant Kishore's Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) has forced political pundits to rework their calculations.
Let's take a look at the process for counting VVPAT slips.
The verification of VVPAT paper slips is conducted inside a secured VVPAT Counting Booth in the counting hall. Only authorised personnel have access to this counting booth. Any counting table in the hall can be converted into VVPAT Counting Booth after the completion of EVM vote counting.
The VVPATs to be taken up for counting paper slips are randomly selected through a 'draw of lots' conducted by the Returning Officer in the presence of the General Observer and the candidates or their representatives.
The paper slips are counted in a secure VVPAT counting booth, in camera inside the counting hall after the last round of counting of votes on the EVMs in the constituency.
The Returning Officer can declare the final result for the constituency after the VVPAT matching process has been completed.