Checking 50% of VVPATs would delay results by up to six days, EC tells Supreme Court
The Election Commission told the Supreme Court on Friday, 29 March, that a petition by 21 opposition leaders gave no valid reason to change the way paper trail slips are verified, and warned that their proposal could hold up the Lok Sabha results by as much as six days.
The petition and the EC’s reply
The petitioners, whose group was headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, wanted VVPAT slips from at least 50 percent of voting machines in every Assembly segment to be counted at random during the Lok Sabha polls. At present the commission matches the slips at one polling station in each Assembly constituency in state elections, and at one polling station in each Assembly segment in a Lok Sabha election.
In its affidavit, the commission said it had already examined these concerns and, after studies and trials, concluded that the existing method was the most suitable one. It argued that enlarging the sample would add almost nothing to confidence in the result, which it put at above 99.99 percent. It also said the petitioners had not pointed to a single specific case showing that the current system harmed free and fair elections, and that their plea raised nothing new compared with earlier cases.
The Supreme Court had asked the commission on 25 March for its view on increasing the number of polling stations where slips are checked.
Time and manpower
According to the commission, checking slips in half of the machines in each Assembly segment would stretch counting to about six days on average. Many Assembly constituencies have over 400 polling stations, where the exercise could take around 8-9 days, and requests for recounts of the slips would add further time. More counting would also require extensive training and a large increase in the number of election staff deployed in the field.
With polling due to begin on April 11, 2019, the commission said altering its system at that stage might not be practical. It asked the court to dismiss the petition, while adding that it remained open to suggestions that could be studied for future elections.
What happened next
Voting in the 2019 Lok Sabha election ran from 11 April to 19 May, and counting took place on 23 May 2019.
See also: more election news
Originally published on 30 March 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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