Karnataka: 8 VVPAT machines found in labourer's house in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Amid allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering, eight voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were seized in northern Karnataka's Vijayapura district on Sunday evening. The machines, without batteries, were found from a labourer's house on the highway. Bengaluru police has immediately registered a case in the matter. Police said, “We have seized eight VVPATs without batteries from the house of a labourer in Vijayapura. A case has been registered; investigation will be conducted.” The VVPAT machines were deemed important as they are attached to the EVMs and provide a paper audit trail of the votes actually polled. These paper votes keep falling into a box but can be redeemed to check with the electronic votes in the event of a dispute. “Eight covers of VVPATs were found from a shed in Vijayapura district. Labourers were using the cover as box to keep their clothes. Deputy commissioner is on the spot and we are verifying further facts. There is no machine there,” said the Chief Election Officer, Karnataka. The Election Commission has made it mandatory to tally the electronic votes of at least one polling station in every constituency with the VVPAT paper votes following every election. This method was first used in the counting of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in November 2017. During the Karnataka Assembly elections on May 12, the Chief Electoral Officer had announced re-election in the Lottegollahalli in Hebbal Assembly segment due to faulty ballot unit. The voting was suspended after several voters complained that VVPAT receipt was different from the vote they cast on the EVM. Source: Times Now News