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Kolkata, Nov 21 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday decided to invite representatives of various political parties registered with the commission to be present during the session to check the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units that will be used for the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal next year. The officers provided this information.
Checking of EVMs and VVPAT will start from January.
The decision to invite representatives of registered political parties at the time of checking of EVMs and VVPATs is aimed at bringing transparency in the system.
Recently, opposition parties had made allegations of EVM malfunction on the day of voting.
Opposition parties have alleged that in some cases, though the EVM button was pressed in favor of one candidate, the vote was cast in favor of another candidate.
However, the Commission had rejected the allegations every time and had scientific evidence to prove why such allegations were completely baseless.
The requirement of EVMs and VVPATs in the 2026 Assembly elections will be much higher than previous elections due to approximately 17 per cent increase in polling stations as compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2021 State Assembly elections.
“Usually, the total requirement of EVMs and VVPAT machines is calculated on the number of booths and 30 per cent reserve. As per that calculation, the total requirement of EVM machines will be around 1.30 lakh and the same number of VVPAT machines,” an official said.
Explaining the reason behind the increase in the number of booths, the official said that, as per the ECI directive, this time the total number of voters at a booth should not exceed 1,200, and hence, to accommodate this, the number of booths had to be increased.
–IANS
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