Bihar Assembly elections: What is a VVPAT and how does it work?

VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. This machine from the Election Commission of India prints a paper slip of the candidate a person votes for with the name, serial number and symbol of the party.

The machine has a transparent window through which the printed slip is displayed to the voter for seven seconds. The machine is meant to be used as a verification for the voter to make sure that the person’s vote has indeed been taken into account for the right candidate. After the printed slip is displayed to the voter, it falls into a sealed ballot compartment within the machine.

The slips can be counted to verify the electronic result stored in the control unit of the EVM. This can be done under certain circumstances only. If a candidate or their agent requests for recount under section 56 D (4) (b) of the Conduct of Election Rules. The election commission has mandated one compulsory verification of slip count with the electronic count for one polling station for every constituency.

EVMs and VVPATs are standalone and not connected to any network. The election commission claims that VVPAT and EVM machines are tamper-proof since there are technological safeguards, detailed administrative and security protocols.

The VVPAT was first experimented with in the 2014 general elections. The VVPATs are manufactured by Electronic Cop. of India Ltd (ECIL) and Bharat Electronic Ltd (BEL).