The error rate of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines supplied by the Election Commission of India is found to be around 8%.
Assessment by the State election authority has revealed the error rate of VVPATs to be 8.08% while the error rate of control units is pegged at 2.02%.
The ballot units are relatively better placed with error rate estimated at less than 1% (0.92%).
The error rate of the election equipment was assessed after the first-level checks done on 99.69% of the machines received by the State. Senior officials said the machines in which errors are detected are being sent back to the Commission seeking replacement. The State was sanctioned 52,100 ballot units, 41,000 control units and 44,000 VVPATs and first-level checks have been completed for almost all the machines.
“Orders relating to first-level randomisation of the machines involving allocation of the machines to all the Assembly constituencies on a random basis will be issued in a day or two. This will be followed by second-level randomisation wherein the machines will be randomly allocated to polling stations in the respective constituencies,” a senior official told The Hindu.
The Election Commission has announced second instalment of 1,100 more VVPATs to the State for the ensuing elections in the first week of December.
“The overall details are being worked out. We may requisition more machines wherever needed after the final list of electors is published on October 12,” the official said adding the State will be second after Karnataka to utilise the latest and sophisticated M3 version of the VVPATs in all the polling stations.