The Congress on Friday termed as “most serious” reports of the Election Commission identifying “defective” VVPAT machines and asked the poll body to take everyone into confidence to help restore public faith in the integrity of the electoral process.
The Opposition party posed several questions to the EC, and said it must respond with full transparency on VVPATs to help restore trust in the election process.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said media reports have revealed that the EC has allegedly “identified 6.5 lakh VVPAT machines as defective” and has sent them to the manufacturers for repair.
These VVPAT machines are of the latest ‘M3’ type, first introduced by the EC in 2018, and used in elections since then, he said, adding 17.4 lakh VVPAT machines were notified for use in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.
However, referring to media reports regarding defects in VVPATs, the Election Commission has said that 3.43 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive maintenance and not 6.5 lakh as reported. Officials have asserted that a defective VVPAT in no way gives erroneous result, but only signifies stoppage of functioning during poll process.
