VVPAT Case : The Election Commission has clarified that the program can be uploaded only once in the EVM machines.
It has been said that while counting the votes recorded in the election through the voting machines (EVM), the vote acknowledgment slips recorded in the VVPAT machine should also be counted 100 percent in the public interest cases filed in the Supreme Court.
After the final hearing before the Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dibangar Dutta was already over, the bench asked the Election Commission some important questions. The Election Commission officials had ordered an explanation. Accordingly, the Election Commission Officer has given an explanation.
Question: Is the VVPAT (Acknowledgment Ticket) machine equipped with a key component known as a micro-controller to control the election machine? Is it installed in the voting machine?
Description: Voting machine, VVPAT machine, control unit have separate microcontrollers. It cannot be implemented from outside.
Question: It is possible to input functions (Program) only once in the electronic part called microcontroller.? Or re-enter the conversion functions (Program).?
Answer: A program can be uploaded to the microcontroller only once. Cannot re-upload the program.
Question: How the Election Commission matches each party symbol on the voting machine. How are votes cast for that symbol recorded and stored?
Answer: The electronic voting machine has the facility to store up to 1400 symbols. Votes for individual symbols are recorded and stored in it.
Question: After the election, the recorded votes must be stored for 45 days as per Indian Election Act. But the Election Commission has said that it will store the votes recorded in the electronic machine only for up to 30 days. It should be explained.
Answer: Data is stored on all machines for up to 45 days. On the 46th day, the Chief Electoral Officer will write to the registrars of the concerned High Courts to ascertain whether a case has been filed in court in respect of any election results. The information on the machine is stored if necessary.
Question: After polling, are the vote registration machines and VVPAT devices sealed? Or is it sealed separately?
Answer: After voting, all three (BU, CU, VVPAT) EVM machine, VVPAT machine and control device will be sealed.
The Election Commission has given its explanation to all the 5 questions raised by the Supreme Court. A bench of Supreme Court judges has adjourned the case after accepting the arguments of both sides.
