VVPAT Poll: Counting Held
VVPAT Poll: Counting Held
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: No din, no eager faces, no agents to scream fowl, no flash of cameras to capture the show- the counting to the..

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: No din, no eager faces, no agents to scream fowl, no flash of cameras to capture the show- the counting to the mock polling which was held in Vattiyoorkavu constituency as part of the field trial of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) followed the same procedures of an original counting, though devoid of its mood and demeanour. The fourth floor of the Collectorate building at Kudappanakunnu wore the usual business-like aura on Monday. Only after entering the room of the counting would one get the feel of the bustling activity. Officials sat in several round tables spread across the room, immersed in counting the slips out of the ballot boxes. The counting, which began at 8 am, continued till late in the evening. Heading the whole process were two observers from the Election Commission of India, including the Principal Secretary of EC, K F Wilfred. Polling was held in 36 polling booths in Vattiyoorkavu constituency on Sunday as it took place in Leh, Jaisalmer and Ladakh. In the VVPAT system, a printer is attached to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) so that the voter is provided with a paper backup of his vote.  ‘’Here, we had attached two printers with each EVM. During the counting process, we found that in many of the EVMs one of the printer was matching with the EVM result while the second one showed less votes. It could have occurred due to the problems in the printer. So, likewise, we would study the problems and positives included in the VVPAT system,’’ said Wilfred.  According to officials, there are two types of VVPAT system, one in which the slip is automatically printed and deposited in the ballot box and the second one in which the printer gives out the slip, which has to be deposited in the box by the voter. In some cases, the voters might not cast the slip into the ballot box, which would create a mismatch in the EVM and ballot countings.  It seems the fairer sex in the constituency had less interest in getting to know the new system. For, according to the Vattiyoorkavu returning officer Jayaprakash, less than 3,200 women participated in the exercise on Sunday, when the total votes polled was 35,486. He also said that printer jam was one problem which has been found to be creating mismatch in the results out of the EVM and the ballot box. ‘’The slips are so small that there is possibility of miscounting. So, more time has to be invested to keep it accurate. We will put down our suggestions in the report which will be given to the Election Commission, who will take the final decision on whether or not the VVPAT is feasible,’’ Jayaprakash said.  The field trial was also to find out the speed of the voting process in VVPAT system.  Though the system is being experimented in five places in the country, voting was held only in four places on Sunday. In Cherapunji in Meghalaya, voting will be held on Tuesday and counting the day after. ‘’Once the whole exercise is over, we will search for similar patterns in the five places and further decisions would be based on it,’’ said Wilfred.

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