Gujarat Elections 2017: VVPAT along with EVMs to be used in all 50,264 booths of 182 constituencies

AK Joti, Chief Election Commissioner of India while addressing the media in Ahmedabad said that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in all 50,264 voting booths of 182 constituencies of the state. 

“Local body election is under the jurisdiction of State Election Commissions and CEC plays no role in that. We lend them M1 EVMs if they ask for it. We never lend M2 EVMs, currently used by CEC. M1 EVMs have not been used by CEC since 2006,” said Joti on the issue of EVM tampering.

If a candidate thinks that the EVM has malfunctioned, he can complain about it to the Returning Officer. The RO can refer to the slip by VVPAT Machines, said Joti.

Earlier this month, the Gujarat High Court had issued notices to Central and State Election Commisions and Central Government over a petition filed by Gujarat Congress seeking disqualification of defective EVMs and VVPATs.