AMN / NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Monday directed Election Commission to increase random checking of VVPAT slips from one booth per assembly Constituency to five in Lok Sabha polls. The Apex Court gave this direction after hearing a PIL filed by leaders of 21 Opposition political parties led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

The petitioners were demanding counting and cross verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT) slips in at least 50 per cent randomly chosen of all polling stations within each Assembly Constituency. The petitioners had also challenged the decision of ECI to verify VVPAT of only one randomly selected booth of a constituency.

The Election Commission filed counter-affidavit in the matter pointing out logistical difficulties in carrying out 50 per cent verification of VVPAT. The ECI said it will delay the announcement of results by at least 6 days.

Earlier, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had required the Commission to reply whether it is possible to increase the VVPAT sample survey in every assembly segment.

VVPAT is a paper slip generated by the Electronic Voting Machine, EVM every time a voter casts his vote, recording the party to whom the vote was made. This is kept in a sealed cover to be opened only in case of a future dispute.