EC has said no manufacturing defect in EVM: Minister

There is no discrepancies regarding the voter turnout/and votes counted on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in Lok Sabha polls, the Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday.

Replying to supplementaries during Question hour, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Election Commission has not received any complaint regarding defects in EVM manufacture and the issue does not concern its operations.

The Law Minister was replying to a specific question from Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who said there have been complaints about operations of EVMs and differences in counting between EVMs and VVPATs in the just-concluded elections.

"This is a question about manufacturing of EVMs and not its operations. The EC has said there is no manufacturing defect in EVMs. If there is any specific complaint, I will get the information from the EC," he told the member.

Specifically asked about problems in EVM functioning during polling, the minister said, "speaking on behalf of the EC, there is no complaint as far as counting of VVPATs is concerned. If there were any complaints, the same have been monitored and redressed by the Returning Officers at the spot where the candidates are also present.