The Election Commission on Wednesday said all VVPATs would be delivered well within the time required for preparations ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The manufacture and supply of machines are being monitored on a daily basis, said the electoral body.
“While all required Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be delivered by September 30, 2018, the VVPAT deliveries are delayed as the Technical Experts Committee on EVMs appointed by the Commission analyses the technology stabilisation issues in the initial batches and incorporates essential design improvements,” said the Commission.
“Even then, due to continuous monitoring at the highest level, including personal visits by the Commission to all the production units, all VVPATs shall be delivered well before the end of November 2018, well within the time required for making pre-poll preparations,” the EC said.
In May 2017, the Commission had placed an order of 16.15 lakh VVPATs to the Public Sector Unit (PSU) manufacturers Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, to meet the requirements for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Till date, 5.88 lakh units have been produced by the PSUs, which is 36% of the total quantity to be supplied. The RTI reply dated June 19, 2018, mentioned in a media report today [Wednesday] does not take into account the current status as explained above,” said the Commission.
‘100% deployment’
“The Commission would like to allay any unfounded apprehensions regarding the supply of VVPATs for Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The Commission is committed to the 100% deployment of VVPATs at all polling stations in future General Election, as well as by-elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative assemblies,” the EC said.
