NEW DELHI: Over 6.5 lakh VVPAT machines, which were used in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, have been flagged as ‘defective’ by the election commission of India (ECI).
This was claimed in a report by The Wire.
These are now being sent back to the manufacturers for rectifying the defects, the reported The Wire.
Notably, the VVPAT machines, which have been found to be ‘defective’ by the ECI, are among the newest machines.
These newest VVPAT machines flagged as ‘defective’ are the latest M3 generation machines, which were introduced in 2018 for the first time.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a total of 17.4 lakh VVPATs were notified for use in the polls and also assembly elections being held simultaneously.
This means that over one-third (37%) of these machines have now been found to be ‘defective’ by the ECI, the report claimed.
According to the report, what is even more surprising is that entire series of VVPATs are being replaced.
“These were first introduced in 2018 and have been used in subsequent elections ever since. The machines were picked up from across the country and the new replaced machines have now almost reached all districts,” sources were quoted as saying by The Wire.
Experts have raised an alarm at the high number of ‘defective’ machines.
“Normally in an election, around 4000 EVMs are found to be defective. The corresponding number of VVPATS, which have higher chances of damage as these are electro mechanical devices, could be a maximum of 10 times that figure. But if what you are saying is correct that over 6.5 lakh are defective, then this is very serious,” former chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Qureshi was quoted as saying.
Notably, SY Qureshi was serving as the chief election commissioner of India when the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were held.
Notably, in the 2021 Assam assembly elections, a total of 171 votes were cast in a polling booth in Dima Hasao district of Assam.
However, only 90 people were eligible to exercise their franchise at the polling station.