EC should keep political parties in loop about defective VVPATs: Congress

He claimed that number of defective machines being more than one-third the number used in 2019 Lok Sabha election could have affected voters

A view of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machine. File | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

The Congress slammed the Election Commission (EC) for not keeping political parties in loop as reports emerge that the EC has identified 6.5 lakh Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines as defective.

Addressing a press conference, party’s spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “In an atmosphere of increasing questions on the EVMs, defects at such a large scale require full transparency to restore public faith and trust in the electoral process.”

He claimed that the number of machines in which defects had been found was more than one-third the number used in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, and could have affected the voters both in the last general election and the subsequent Assembly poll.

“This cannot be treated as isolated incidents since thousands of VVPATs with consecutive serial numbers in entire batches, from different manufacturers, have been found defective. The defects are serious enough that the machines have been returned to the manufacturers,” he added.

Mr. Khera further accused the Election Commission of not following the standard operating procedure that the panel had framed for itself. “Normally, the field officers are responsible for identifying defects. For example, when a new VVPAT is received, the District Election Officer carries out a “first level check”. If any fault is identified, within 7 days, the machine is returned to the manufacturer for repairs, in coordination with the Chief Election Officer concerned,” he said.

“But in this case, the Election Commission itself decided in 2021 that these machines must be repaired, and sent instructions to all states and Union Territories, except Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Laskhadweep, and Daman and Diu,” he explained.

The panel, at the very least, should have come clean to the political parties, he said, especially at such a “critical time”.  “The faith, trust and confidence of every Indian in the process of our election, is integral to our democracy. It is key not only to our image as the world’s largest democracy, but also in giving every citizen a voice— a power to influence the policies of the government,” Mr. Khera stated.