The final phase of General Elections 2019 concluded on 19th May 2019 and the counting of votes is scheduled 23rd May 2019. The results will also be announced on the same day. The Election Commission uses Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to register the votes. Since 2000, the Election Commission has conducted 113 assembly elections and three general elections using EVMs. Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was added to the existing EVMs in 2013 to increase transparency in the system. On 8th April 2019, the Supreme Court instructed the ECI to match EVMS with VVPATs in five randomly selected polling stations. per assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency.
How are VVPAT slips counted?
The Election Commission of India suggests that the EVMs and VVPATs of one randomly selected polling station from each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency be verified. Opposition parties have demanded that it be done on 50 percent of EVM-VVPATs. The Supreme Court has ordered the EC to do it on five EVM-VVPATTs per assembly segment. 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 '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 ECI has decided that the counting of five VVPATs will be done in chronological order. The Returning Officer can declare the final result for the constituency after the VVPAT matching process has been completed.
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