Bhopal: The new device Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will confirm the voter that he/she has voted right or wrong. The complainant may get penalised if his/her complaint is found false. The Election Commission is introducing VVPAT device attached with the Electronic Voting Machine, in the upcoming by-election of Ater and Bandhavgarh constituencies.
The device will show the printed slip of the vote cast by the voter. If the voter claims that he had given the vote to a certain party and it had shown another party symbol, he/she could file a complaint with the polling officer. First he/she will have to fill the declaration form and after that the polling officer will fill another form 17-A and conduct the voting. If the complaint is found to be correct, the polling will be stopped.
The polling may be rescheduled or new EVM and VVPAT will be used, depending upon the decision of the district returning officer. But if the complaint is found to be false, the complainant may get six months imprisonment and cash penalty of Rs 1,000 or both. The complainant may be arrested from the polling station itself.
Joint election officer SS Bansal said the entire printed record would be kept for five years for judicial hearings. He also added it was a mixed procedure of EVM and ballot paper. The EVM was a modern way of polling and VVPAT was a printed certification of the electronic voting. For the first time in state VVPAT would be introduced in the by-elections, Bansal said.
Over 4 lakh to exercise franchise
In Ater constituency, 25 candidates have submitted the nomination forms and all the forms were found valid. In Bandhavgarh 12 candidates filed nomination, out of which 10 were found valid. In Ater, at 288 polling stations, 2, 11,291 voters will exercise their right and in Bandhavgarh, at 264 polling stations, 2,01,193 voters will cast their vote on April 9. The counting will be done on April 13.
