Daily News Analysis ‘VVPAT Time-Stamping ’ : 28 May

Why in News:

• The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to consider a petition seeking to time-stamp Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips to log the exact moment each vote is cast.

Key Facts: Understanding the VVPAT System

• Definition: The VVPAT is an independent verification printer system attached to an Electronic Voting Machine that allows voters to visually verify that their votes have been cast correctly.
• Regulatory Authority: Electoral management, technical design approvals, and cross-verification rules for voting machines operate under the strict statutory jurisdiction of the Election Commission of India.
• Operational Mechanism: When a voter presses a button on the Balloting Unit, the connected VVPAT printer generates a paper slip displaying the candidate’s serial number, name, and unique party symbol.
• Visibility Threshold: The printed paper slip remains visible behind a transparent, sealed glass window for exactly seven seconds before being automatically cut and dropped into the secure storage box below.
• Mandatory Auditing Standards: As per current guidelines, a mandatory physical counting of VVPAT paper slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency is conducted to cross-verify EVM electronic results.
• Statutory Core Rule: In the event of any discrepancy between the electronic count recorded in the control unit and the physical VVPAT paper slip count, statutory protocols mandate that the physical paper slip count shall prevail.