3,550 VVPATs found to be faulty before elections: Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer

New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): After reports of 3,550 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) failed in Gujarat ahead of Assembly polls, state Joint Chief Electoral Officer Jaydeep Dwivedi cleared that devices failed due to damage while transporting.

"These VVPATs were brought from different states including Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. During transportation, these 3550 VVPATs were damaged and they failed the First Level Check (FLC), which is conducted by the engineers of Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL)," Jaydeep Dwivedi told ANI.

As per the Election Commission of India's directive these VVPATs would be sent back.

The Commission is well equipped with adequate (70,000) VVPATs which have passed the FLC and will be used in the upcoming polls.

According to some reports, during the FLCs test in Gujarat, the EC has rejected 3,550 VVPATs.

A total of 70,182 VVPATs will be used in the Gujarat polls.

Out of 70,182 VVPATs, 46,000 devices are new and are coming from the BEL and the ECIL.

For the first time, the VVPATs are being used in all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI