A Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine was “not physically found” in the Udalguri district of Assam during the Assembly-wise segregation of the machines, prompting the state’s chief electoral office to launch an inquiry and apprise the development to the Election Commission.

However, the Opposition Congress has sought a high-level judicial inquiry on the issue.

Udalguri falls under the Udalguri-Darrang Lok Sabha constituency, one of the 14 seats in the state.

The VVPAT machines are used to verify whether a polled vote has gone to the intended/right candidate. A second line of verification connected to the ballot unit of an electronic voting machine (EVM), the VVPAT prints a slip containing the name of the candidate and the party symbol. The slip drops into a box and is on display for the voter to see for seven seconds.

A press statement issued by the state’s chief electoral officer on Friday said the VVPAT bearing “unique ID EVTEB96784 as per randomised list was not physically found” resulting in a preliminary inquiry by a joint chief electoral officer.

The inquiry revealed that the EVMs and the VVPATs were kept in the strong room after the first level checking (FLC) of the two machines “under double lock in the presence of the representatives of the recognised political parties”. The strong room has 24x7 CCTV coverage and armed security.

The CEO statement said there is “no question of any missing unit” due to the “stringent storage and security protocol involving the participation of the political parties at every stage”. It also said the VVPAT may have been “inadvertently” shifted to the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) factory along with “non-functional units” after the completion of first-level checking.

The poll panel is the authority to take any future action on it, an official said.