NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday directed the Election Commission to increase the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one booth per assembly segment to five in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls for better voter confidence and credibility of the electoral process.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi however did not agree to the request of 21 opposition parties leaders that VVPAT slips of 50 per cent EVMs be matched, on the ground that it will require huge manpower and not be feasible in view of infrastructural difficulties.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, disposed of the petition filed by opposition parties including TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on the issue.
In their reply in response to Election Commission's affidavit, the leaders of 21 opposition parties have told the apex court that they do not mind a delay of six days in declaration of Lok Sabha election results for counting of 50 per cent of VVPAT slips, saying it is not a "serious delay" if it ensures integrity of the electoral process.
The EC in its affidavit has claimed that the verification of 50 per cent of VVPAT slips would delay the declaration of election results by "5.2 days".
The Commission follows a system of counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in one polling booth per assembly constituency in Vidhan Sabha elections, and one polling booth in each assembly segment for Lok Sabha polls.
On April 1, the apex court had asked the opposition leaders to file within a week their reply on the EC's affidavit on their plea.
The EC has submitted to the court that any increase in the sample size of verification from the existing norm of one polling booth per assembly segment would lead to a very negligible gain in the confidence level, which is way above 99.99 per cent.
It has stated that increased VVPAT slip counting will require extensive training and capacity building of election officials.
"It is further submitted that when the polls are imminent, and polling is to commence from April 11, 2019, to now seek to alter the system adopted by the Election Commission of India at this stage might not be feasible," the poll panel has said.