In its reply to the Gujarat High Court on December 12, the Election Commission has decided to stick to its decision of randomly electing and counting vote slips of one voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine in each constituency and match it with the corresponding electronic voting machine (EVM).

Hearing a petition seeking 100 per cent manual counting of VVAPT vote slips and matching it with corresponding EVMs, the Gujarat high court on Thursday had sought Commission's reply on if had set up any framework for sample counting of VVPAT slips along with EVM votes on random basis or not.

EC sources said, the Commission has decided to do it on a pilot basis as it cannot take the risk of counting more than one VVPAT per constituency which may put the counting process in disarray, create confusion and delay the results.

"On the basis of this pilot, we will be able to know exactly what are the lacunae and problems and will increase the number of VVPATs in future elections," said the source adding that the Commission had never said that votes of 5% VVPATs will be matched in Gujarat elections.

"The former CEC (Nasim Zaidi) has said 5% in terms of elections that will take place in distant future as he also knew that the EC first does everything on pilot basis and slowly increases the number and implements it," said the source.

Sources added that in case of any dispute or mismatch of votes between the VVPAT and EVM, the VVPAT counting will prevail as it is documentary evidence. He also clarified that a mismatch will not mean that votes of all machines in the particular polling station or constituency will be physically counted.

"But the polling agents can ask for counting and matching of a particular VVPAT if they come across a complaint by a voter that the button pressed on the EVM and VVPAT slip are not matching," said the source.

In an elaborate statement issued on Friday, the EC described in detail the entire framework of administrative system, security protocols and procedural checks-and-balances in Gujarat to prevent any possible misuse of EVMs/VVPATs or procedural lapses in the use of EVMs and VVPATs during polls.

"The Commission would like to reassure the people of the country that the Commission would leave no stone unturned in preserving the purity, integrity and credibility of the elections and reinforcing the faith and trust of the people in the electoral democracy of our county," it said.

On the poll day, a mock poll by casting at least 50 votes will be conducted at every polling station by the Presiding Officer in the presence of the polling agents one hour before start of actual poll.

After the mock poll, Presiding Officer will ascertain the result in the CU, count the VVPAT paper slips in the presence of the polling agents and confirm that the results tally for each candidate. All mock poll data in CU and VVPAT paper slips from VVPAT will be stamped as mock and removed by the Presiding Officer and the empty drop box verified by the Polling Agents.

After poll, EVMs and VVPATs will be sealed in their respective carrying cases and polling agents will also be allowed to put their signatures on the seals, which they can check for the intactness of the seal before counting.

Candidates/representatives will also be allowed to follow the vehicles (with escorts) carrying EVMs and VVPATs from polling stations to counting storage rooms where the central armed police force (CAPF) will be on guard, the EC said.

No vehicle, including that of any official or ministers or any other political functionary, will be allowed inside the secured campus where the EVMs and VVPATs are stored and it will 24X7 under video surveillance with a gazetted officer along with a senior police officer put on duty round the clock for monitoring the security arrangements of strong room.

DCs and SPs have been made personally responsible for security of the strong room within the district and meticulous implementation of the protocol.

On the day of counting of votes, the strong room will be opened in the presence of candidates/their representative, RO and observer under videography.

After completion of counting of votes, Control Units and VVPATs shall again be sealed as and shifted back to strong room for safe storage for a period of 45 days to allow any party seek redressal through courts.

The Commission said it is confident and of firm conviction that no unauthorised person is allowed access to EVMs and VVPATs before, during or after the polls. Besides, no unaccounted EVMs and VVPATs can enter the election eco-system at any stage, since all EVM/VVPAT activities are done in presence of stakeholders and tracked through the ETS.

POLL RULES

Polling agents can ask for counting and matching of a particular VVPAT if they come across a complaint by a voter that the button pressed on the EVM and VVPAT slip are not matching, said a source.