Lok Sabha election results 2019: Here's what we know in the controversy over EVM safety and VVPAT counting

The controversy surrounding the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in Indian elections keeps erupting time and again. Following the conclusion of voting in the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition parties have again raised a host of issues from safety of EVMs to ensuring transparent counting of votes on Thursday.

Voter-verified paper audit trail or VVPAT is an independent system attached to an EVM to allow the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. A slip is printed on the VVPAT printer containing the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate after a vote is cast. This slip remains visible to a voter through a transparent window for seven seconds after which it drops into a sealed box. If need be, these printouts can later be counted.

Several unsubstantiated videos and reports from a few places around the country showed EVMs being transported without the proper level of security mandated by the Election Commission guidelines. This fuelled concerns that the ruling alliance is somehow trying to swap actual EVMs with other ones. The Election Commission has dismissed these claims and said that the EVMs that were used to register votes are all kept in sealed strong rooms that are under round the clock security and electronic surveillance.