First Time Voter? Learn How To Use EVM & VVPAT In Bihar Assembly Elections 2020

Bihar Elections 2020: The Bihar Assembly Elections for 243 constituencies will be held in three phases starting from October 28. The elections will be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

Electronic Voting machine (Source Image - PTI)

The Bihar Assembly Elections for 243 constituencies will be held in three phases with first of the three phase polling to be held on October 28. The polling for the second and the third phase will be conducted on November 3 and 7 while the results are expected to be out on November 10. The elections will be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Introduced in 1982, Electronic Voting Machines have been in use to conduct both general and assembly elections. The EVM has two parts - a control unit with the polling officer and a balloting unit inside the voting compartment for voters to record their votes. These units are joined together by a cable. The control unit of the EVM is kept with the presiding officer or the polling officer while the balloting unit is kept within the voting compartment for electors to cast their votes. This is done to ensure that the polling officer verifies your identity. The Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail, on the other hand is a later addition to the EVMs which provides a visual verification to the voter after the vote is cast. Steps To Follow While Casting Vote Step 1: As described the Election Commission of India, the polling officer instead of issuing a ballot paper, presses the Ballot Button on the EVM which enables the voter to cast their vote. Step 2: A list of candidates names and/or symbols will be available on the machine with a blue button next to it. Step 3: The votes has to simply press the button next to the candidate's name they wish to vote for. How Does VVPAT Work? The VVPAT system attached to the EVM generates a paper slip and displays it for 7 seconds to allow the voter to verify that their vote is cast correctly before the slip drops into a sealed box. After polling when the votes are counted, the printed VVPAT slips from 5 randomly selected polling stations in each Assembly Constituency are matched against the EVM results. The final result for the constituency is declared after the VVPAT matching process is completed. In case of a discrepancy between the VVPAT count and the EVM results, the printed paper slips count is taken as final as per the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.