Maharashtra Elections: ECI Confirms Accuracy in VVPAT Slip Counting
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Mumbai, Dec 10 (NationPress) In a move to eliminate all uncertainties, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Tuesday that the counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) voting slips during the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections revealed no inconsistencies.
In accordance with ECI regulations, the required counting of 1,140 VVPAT slips across all 288 Assembly constituencies was finalized on November 23 during the vote tallying process that took place following elections held on November 20.
The ECI stipulates that VVPAT slips must be counted from five polling stations, selected via a lottery system, within each of the 288 Assembly segments.
Representatives from the candidates were present during this procedure, which aimed to compare the count of VVPAT slips against the votes recorded for each candidate in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
On the day of counting, polling stations were designated by combining the numbers of five centers from all constituencies in the presence of ECI observers and candidate representatives.
“Following this method, after counting votes from five polling stations within each Assembly constituency, no discrepancies were discovered between the votes recorded for candidates in the EVMs and the corresponding VVPAT slips. All reports have been submitted by the 36 District Election Officers in Maharashtra,” stated the ECI today.
As this entire counting exercise was conducted under the watch of representatives from the candidates at each counting location, these representatives also signed documents confirming that the process was duly completed.
A dedicated room with stringent security measures was established at each counting center for the VVPAT slip counting, which was monitored and recorded via CCTV cameras to ensure transparency, with all guidelines strictly adhered to across the 288 Assembly constituencies in the state, the ECI added.
According to ECI procedures, the counting of VVPAT slips from five polling stations in each constituency is obligatory; without this, the counting process cannot be considered complete, nor can the declaration of the winning candidate be made.
The ECI's declaration comes amidst skepticism from the opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and several smaller parties, raising questions about the election results.
Starting with Markadwadi village in Solapur, the MVA has called for a return to the paper ballot voting system, alleging manipulations, but the ECI has dismissed all such claims.
