‘Prevent excessive exposure to illumination’

Following the widespread complaints about the VVPAT machines’ malfunctioning in the Kairana and Bhandara-Gondiya bypolls, the Election Commission (EC) has asked the manufacturers, BEL and ECIL, and the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) to suggest additional design improvements as well as suggestions on any layout changes in the polling stations to prevent any excessive exposure to illumination in future.

“Manufacturers have also been asked to do a detailed technical analysis once the VVPATs are free from Election Petition (as these cannot be currently accessed in Strong Rooms till 45 days Election Petition period is over),” the EC said in a statement.

The EC had earlier set up two special teams to probe incidence of VVPAT glitches during the recently held Kairana and Bhandara-Gondiya bypolls. The preliminary investigation reports submitted to the Commission, have indicated two major technical — failure of contrast sensor and failure of length sensor in the VVPAT machines, for malfunctioning of VVPAT machines. This was caused due excessive exposure to illumination in the Polling Station.

The Commission has decided to reiterate its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding Do’s and Don’t’s and have also formed a Committee to examine further strengthening of the SOPs.

According to EC, the Commission has also decided to make the first level checking process stricter. “The Commission has also adopted the hardware improvement recommended by TEC to prevent auto shutdown of VVPATs due to excessive light. The Commission has directed that the training of the polling officials be further strengthened and streamlined, so that failures due to human errors are minimized,” it said.

VVPAT units, also known as Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail units, produce a printout of the vote cast using an EVM, which can be shown to the voter to dispel any doubts. This printout is then deposited in a box and can be used to resolve any dispute regarding the election.

Last month, the Commission had to order re-election in 73 polling stations of the Kairana seat, 49 in Bhandara-Gondiya and one in Nagaland after a large number of VVPATs malfunctioned during the polling on May 28. The repoll was ordered on the ground that the poll officers took inordinately long to replace the malfunctioning VVPATs, which may have affected the voter turnout.