In a major decision on the vote counting process, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to increase voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) from one Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) per Assembly segment to five randomly selected EVMs. The apex court said this was being done to ensure the greatest degree of accuracy and satisfaction in the election process.

The direction came on a plea by leaders of 21 Opposition parties who wanted it to be hiked to 50 per cent of EVMs per Assembly segment.

According to the apex court’s direction, the VVPAT slips of five EVMs in every place will be subjected to physical counting. The increase in the VVPAT would neither require additional manpower nor delay the results of the Lok Sabha election, the court noted.

During the hearing, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the poll panel several questions regarding the information mentioned on the slips and the process in place to authenticate the genuineness of these paper slips.

The court also noted that the EC had put a query before the Indian Statistical Institute regarding a reasonable sample size to verify the EVMs. The institute had responded that a sample of 479 EVMs would generate 99.99 per cent accuracy in results. With the first phase of voting starting on April 11, the court hoped this would satisfy both the political parties and the voters.

The EC said it will make all-out efforts to implement the directions of the SC to increase random matching of EVM results with paper trail machine slips from one polling station per Assembly seat to five “with immediate effect”.

After votes are cast, the polling station where VVPAT slips are matched with the EVM results is decided by a draw of lots or lottery system in the presence of candidates. VVPAT or paper trail machine is a device that dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted.

The slip appears on a small window for seven seconds and then drops into a box. The voter cannot take it home. VVPATs are used in all polling stations. Till now, the results of EVMs and VVPATs are matched in one polling station per Assembly segment.