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Paper-trail voting machines a ‘nightmare’, says Punjab chief electoral officer after glitches

Hindustan Times | By, Chandigarh
Feb 06, 2017 08:53 AM IST

A large number of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, installed for the first time in the ongoing Punjab assembly polls, have developed snags.

A large number of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, installed for the first time in the ongoing Punjab assembly polls, have developed snags.

The paper-trail machine gives a receipt to the voter, verifying the vote went to in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the electronic voting machine.(Livemint photo)
The paper-trail machine gives a receipt to the voter, verifying the vote went to in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the electronic voting machine.(Livemint photo)

Reports of a large number of machines developing technical snags have come in from Majitha and Sangrur constituencies.

“It’s a logistical nightmare — we have fewer engineers and more complaints,” said Punjab chief electoral officer VK Singh.

Due to a snag in the machines, polling has had to be called off a number of times. Singh apprehended that due to snags in the machines, re-polling had to be ordered at some of the polling booths.

The election commission has installed VVPAT machines in 33 of the 117 constituencies for the assembly polls and two assembly segments as part of the Amritsar by-polls.

The EC had earlier reported that one-third of the 95 machines that arrived in Punjab developed technical snag during initial checks, after which 2,000 machines were airlifted from Bengaluru.

The election commission had raised apprehensions regarding performance of the paper-trail machine, which gives a receipt to the voter, verifying the vote went to in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the electronic voting machine.

#PunjabPolls2017 | For live updates, pictures and videos, follow @HTPunjab

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