4,960 VVPAT machines arrive at Salem Collectorate

The inspection of machines will be done after getting order from ECI

A total of 4,960 voter verifiable paper audit trial (VVPAT) machines allotted to Salem district arrived here from the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru, on Sunday.

All the VVPAT machines were kept in the strong room at the Collectorate in the presence of District Collector Rohini R. Bhajibhakare and District Election Officer and the representatives of the recognised political parties.

The VVPAT machine is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow the voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud or malfunction.

In a press release issued here on Sunday, Ms. Rohini said that the district in the recent past received 8,200 ballot units and another 4,960 control units from the BEL. The first leg inspection of the same had already been completed and they have been kept in safe custody.

Now, the 4,960 VVPATs have been received from BEL and kept in the strong room on Sunday.

After getting the order from the Election Commission of India (ECI), the first leg inspection of the VVPATs will be done in the presence of the political party representatives, the release said.

R. Sukumar, District Revenue Officer, C. Vijay Babu, Personal Assistant (general) to the Collector, T. Mohammad Qudrathulla, special election tahsildar, were present on the occasion.