With two more rounds of Lok Sabha elections to go, people are waiting eagerly for the poll results. Now reports have surfaced saying that the elections result might be delayed slightly.
According to DNA, the final tally for the Lok Sabha results may be declared late it will be either on May 23 or even on May 24. This is due to the increase in the number of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to be counted and matched with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
After the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea of 21 Opposition parties, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, to review its judgment rejecting 50% random physical verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) using Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The review petition was filed weeks ago after the court, on April 8, directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to increase physical counting of VVPAT slips to five random EVMs in each Assembly segment/constituency. After which The ECI had said that a 50% random physical verification of VVPATs would delay the Lok Sabha poll results by six whole days.
But post apex court’s dismissal of the review petition, the Election Commission said the matching of five VVPAT machines instead of one will need at least five hours in every seat. Deputy election commissioner Sudeep Jain told DNA, “Counting may take even more time in some places depending on availability of facilities and resources.”
