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By Aishwarya Paliwal: Preparatory work for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is underway, sources in the Election Commission said, while dismissing concerns about faulty Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as unfounded.
Sources in the EC told India Today, “The preparatory work for the 2024 Lok Sabha election is underway. The commission has commenced the manufacturing of 8.92 lakh new VVPAT machines and [is] retiring 2.71 lakh such M2 model machines.”
CHECKING OF MACHINES ROUTINELY UNDERTAKEN
Checking of EVMs and VVPATs is a routine exercise that happens after every election, and faulty or obsolete machines have been removed from the system, the sources said. The poll panel has identified 3.43 lakh VVPATs for preventive maintenance and 2.43 lakh for upgrade to reduce machine replacement rates.
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Sources told India Today, “The Commission has undertaken a detailed preparatory exercise for the next Lok Sabha polls by reviewing VVPAT stocks by retiring obsolete M2 type machines, producing new VVPATs, upgrading VVPAT to M3 from available upgradable (M2M3 machines) and carrying out preventive maintenance of 3.43 lakh such machines.”
The movement of EVM/VVPATs has been a controversial topic with many parties and activists raising this issue time and again.
There is a specified protocol and procedure to ensure complete security during the movement of EVMs and VVPATs, with all movements being recorded and labelled, according to the sources.
To avoid many classifications, defective is used as classification to represent movement of defective (non-functional) as well as machines destined for upgrade or other rework as decided by TEC in consultation with the manufacturers to improve performance to reduce replacement rates.
3.43 LAKH VVPATs NOT 6.5 LAKH IDENTIFIED FOR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
According to the commission, 3.43 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive maintenance.
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A report in the wire suggested that 6.5 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance involves corrective tasks under T1-T4 like removing fall error, contract error, deplete error, length errors etc.
After every election, analysis of non-functional EVMs and VVPATs is carried out as an integral part of enhancing the performance of EVMs and VVPATs to reduce replacement rates.
The number of T1-T4 VVPAT sent to PSU Bharat Electronics Limited stood at 1,87,154 while 1,29,817 were sent to PSU Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.
DEFECTIVE VVPATs DON’T GIVE ERRONEOUS RESULT
Explaining the process of how VVPATs function, officials explained that a defective VVPAT would not give an erroneous result but would only signify a stoppage of functioning during the polling process.
After every election, analysis of non-functional EVMs and VVPATs is carried out to enhance the performance of these machines and to reduce replacement rates.
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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 17.4 lakh VVPATs were deployed and used for the first time in every polling station throughout the country. After the elections, an exhaustive analysis was carried out by the Technical Expert Committee, along with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, which concluded that some corrective actions were required to improve the performance of M3 VVPATs.
It was also decided to discontinue the M2 model machine and upgrade M2-M3 VVPATs to the M3 model to mitigate the replacement rate.
On the basis of analysis and suggested corrective action, work of T1-T4 rectification was initiated and VVPATs falling in these categories were ordered to be sent to manufacturers for implementation of corrections/improvement, irrespective of whether VVPATs had become non-functional or not.
NEW VVPATs BEING PRODUCED BY BEL, ECIL
The government has sanctioned 8.92 lakh new VVPATs, which are under production at BEL and ECIL and being sent to various states.
The manufacture of EVMs is a complicated process, with those working on the machines operating in silos and different keys being worked on in different rooms. It is only during the assembly of the machine that the keys come together, and the EVM is assembled. It is impossible for those working on the machines to know which key will fit where and how it will all come together.
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