Party symbol on VVPAT slips reassures voters

Noida: With the district administration claiming that the EVM to VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) ratio was 100% in the Gautam Budh Nagar Lok Sabha seat, the VVPAT experience thrilled voters across the constituency, especially in the rural belt on Thursday, the first day of polling.
While the urban voters were thrilled by the way the VVPATs assured them of their vote, in the rural areas, most did not know the name of the machine but were extremely relieved to see the symbol of the party appear before them.

Rajesh Sharma, Poonam Devi and Jyoti, residents of Banwariwaas village of Jewar area, who went to the primary school in their locality to cast their votes in the morning, told TOI they were able to see the symbol of the party which they had pressed for. Rajesh said while in the previous elections, there would be incidents when voters would be confused and they would complain about errors in the voting process, the VVPAT machine ensured the vote that they had cast, went to the party they voted for.

For the more enlightened urban voters too, the VVPAT which came along with the EVM came as a 120% guarantee of where their vote went.

Vijendra Singh (50), who owns a facilities management business, said, “The VVPAT increased my trust on the polling process. Once you get to see the party symbol, you feel secure about your contribution to the polling process.”

Anita Prajapati, a resident of Gaur City, said the demonstrations given by teams of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme helped in ensuring they knew how to locate the VVPAT and check it timely.

Balram Singh, the district nodal officer for model code violations, said the Election Commission has made it compulsory to ensure the presence of the VVPATs from this poll. “We are still gathering the reactions but the initial response is great,” he said.