VVPAT Verification Intensifies Amid Legal Petitions in India

Eight petitions have been filed regarding VVPAT-EVM matching in various courts. The Election Commission mandates VVPAT verification for randomly selected polling stations post-vote counting, as per a Supreme Court directive. No deposit is required for this verification, which has been conducted for all 2024 elections.

In recent developments, the Supreme Court and multiple high courts have seen the filing of eight petitions concerning the alignment of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) votes. This was highlighted in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal shared that following the Supreme Court's 2019 directive, mandatory verification of paper trail slips from five randomly chosen polling stations per assembly constituency is enforced after vote counting in Lok Sabha elections.

The Election Commission, as stated, requires no deposit for this mandatory verification, affirming that this process was thoroughly executed in the 2024 electoral proceedings.

(With inputs from agencies.)