The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to be deployed, along with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), during the bypolls to the Assembly from Nanjangud and Gundlupet on Sunday were found to be error-free during the elaborate tests and mock polls conducted by the authorities in the two constituencies.
The VVPAT machines attached to the EVMs will print a ballot slip that shows the choice made by the voter. Though VVPAT machines were used on an experimental basis in other parts of the country, they are being used in the entire Assembly constituency for the first time in the State.
The ballot units, control units, and the VVPAT machines were subjected to checks in the presence of candidates and their agents. The testing exercise has also been videographed.
“All the VVPAT machines have been checked twice,” said Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru D. Randeep, who is also the District Election Officer, adding that “not even one error was found in any of the machines”.
Also, about 20 EVMs were checked for their functionality by polling more than 1,000 votes in each of them.
The election authorities have kept enough spare VVPAT machines, control units and ballot units. In the event of any of them malfunctioning during the polling process, the spare ones will be rushed to the polling stations.
A total of 366 VVPAT machines are at the disposal of poll officials in Nanjangud where polling will be held at 236 booths. Similarly, 375 VVPAT machines have arrived from Uttar Pradesh to Gundlupet, where polling will be held at 250 booths.
