Image of an EVM with VVPAT. For representational purposes.
Credit: DH File Photo
Maharashtra is set to vote on November 20 in single phase, while the results will be announced on November 23.
Gazette notification for the Maharashtra elections will be issued on October 22 with the last date for making nominations is on October 29 . The final date for withdrawal of candidatures is October 30 (Wednesday).
As we know, both the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs will be used at all the polling stations in the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. The officials will match data from EVMs and VVPATs to ensure safety and transparency.
An EVM is a device that allows voters to caste their votes using electronic means. According to the EC, it assists in or oversees the casting and counting of votes. An EVM is made of two parts: the control unit and the balloting unit.
On the other hand, voters can use the VVPAT machine to verify if their votes were cast as intended by using a verification technique. A VVPAT prints a paper slip with the name, party symbol, and serial number of the candidate a voter selects. Election fraud and malfunctions are intended to be identified by VVPATs.
The ECI has advised officials to match data from EVMs and VVPATs to ensure transparency. But what happens if they do not match?
If the data from the EVMs and VVPATs do not match, the paper slips of the particular polling station in question are recounted. If discrepancies persists, the count determined by the VVPAT paper slips takes precedence over the vote count recorded on the EVMs.