By IANS,
Shillong : The Election Commission will Tuesday conduct a mock poll exercice in Cherrapunjee, one of the wettest places on earth, to test the Voter Verifiable Paper Trial (VVPT) system, an election official said Monday.
The VVPT is a prototype of the present electronic voting machines (EVM) fitted with a printing apparatus where a voter would be able to see the candidate to whom he or she has cast his vote. However, the voter will not get a copy of the paper receipt.
“Sixteen people have been selected as dummy candidates with independent symbols for the mock polls to test VVPT system,” Meghalaya’s Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik told IANS.
The system has been developed by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL).
“One VVPT machine each will be set up at 36 polling stations for trial test,” Naik said.
The mock poll will he held from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The poll panel has appealed to all political parties to get involved in the trial process and to have a first hand experience of the system.
The VVPT trial was decided after the commission’s meeting with all political parties in October last year and repeated allegations that the EVMs are being tampered with to manipulate election results.
Various political parties have been demanding that the VVPT system be introduced for ensuring “free and fair elections”.