‘Defective’ VVPAT machines accounting for one-third of total still in use

January 9, 2024 | < 1 min read

**Polling staff checking electronic voting machines inside the strong room before distributing them at Kamlabai Girls High School in Bengaluru,, on May 11, 2018. before the Karnataka Assembly election** *(Photo: HT)*

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has raised concerns about more than 6.5 lakh VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines being identified as ‘defective’.

These units are currently being returned to the manufacturers—Electronics Corporation of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited—to rectify the reported issues. Notably, these machines belong to the most recent M3 generation, which was introduced in 2018.

To offer context, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a total of 17.4 lakh VVPAT machines were designated for use in both the Lok Sabha and the concurrent assembly elections.

Therefore, it’s significant that over a third (37%) of these machines have now been flagged as defective by the Election Commission.

“These series were initially introduced in 2018 and have been utilised in subsequent elections. The machines were collected from various parts of the country, and the newly replaced machines have now almost reached all districts,” sources confirmed.