Use VVPAT-fitted EVMs in coming Bengal polls: AAP

The AAP on Sunday demanded that voter-verified paper audit trail be fitted to electronic voting machines in all coming West Bengal elections where EVMs are used to prevent any tampering.

Alleging "rampant tampering" of EVM machines to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party in the just -concluded assembly elections, Aam Admi Party (AAP) state unit chief Sanjay Basu told media persons that people were losing faith in the machines.

"We will approach the Election Commission of India representatives in the state as also the State Election Commission and tell them, irrespective of whether we contest the coming elections or not, a fool proof system be made operational so that people's right to exercise their choice is honoured.

"The VVPAT-fitted EVMsA have been used in the past in a number of constituencies. They were used in all polling booths in Goa in the recent assembly polls. So I see no reason why they cannot be used in the coming municipal or other polls in West Bengal," he said.

Basu alleged that while previously political parties resorted to rigging and booth capturing to loot votes, the latest technique is EVM tampering.

VVPAT is an independent verification system fitted to EVMs to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly.

--IANS

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