EVM-VVPAT gets electorate's vote

The vegetable vendor was happy this time upon seeing a white slip emerge soon after casting her vote in the Lok Sabha election, which ensured her that her vote has gone to the intended candidate. "I would have been happier if the slip was given to me," she added. 

There is seemingly more trust in Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) among the public now, thanks to the introduction of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha poll. The Election Commission of India (ECI), in a bid to achieve greater transparency, had used such VVPAT units attached with EVMs to uphold the voter’s confidence in the electoral process.

Many voters in the city said that they were confused in the previous elections after many political parties alleged that the EVM was tweaked to favour only the ruling party when the elector presses any button on the machine. However, the opinion seems to have changed now.  

"Now it is clear. We can see that our vote has gone to the intended candidate," Bala Vignesh S, a first-time voter in Tambaram, said. He also seemed to agree that the ECI should match the votes polled in the EVM with that of the VVPAT slips.  

A senior official from the office of the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that the VVPAT system helped in allaying apprehensions and also establish robustness and impartiality of the polling system mastered over decades. 

"Perhaps during the next Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission will improvise the VVPAT system by printing the candidate's picture with their party sign in the slip", he added.