The Congress on Friday flagged a news report about defects in 6.5 lakh VVPAT machines, asking the Election Commission to tell the nation whether they were genuine technical faults or they pointed to a larger “defect in our democracy”.

A report in The Wire news portal suggested that the Election Commission had identified 6.5 lakh VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines as defective and sent them to the manufacturers for repair. These VVPAT machines are of the latest M3 generation, first introduced by the Election Commission in 2018 and used in the elections since then. They were part of the 17.40 lakh VVPAT machines notified for use in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, which means the “defective” units accounted for one-third of the total cleared for the polls.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera described it as the most serious issue affecting the integrity of the electoral process.

Khera said: “The number of machines in which defects have been found is more than one-third (37 per cent) the number used in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Voters in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, and subsequent Assembly elections, may have had their votes affected. VVPAT machines were introduced as a measure to boost public confidence in EVMs. Defects at such a large scale require full transparency to restore public faith and trust in the electoral process.”

Arguing that this revelation cannot be treated as an isolated case, Khera said: “Since thousands of VVPAT machines with consecutive serial numbers in entire batches from different manufacturers have been found defective, and the defects are serious enough that the machines have been returned to the manufacturers, political parties should have been consulted to discuss the issue. The machines are manufactured by BEL Hyderabad, Bangalore and Panchkula.”

He said the way in which these machines have been identified as defective appears to be in contravention of the EC’s own standard operating procedure.

“Normally, field officers are responsible for identifying defects. For example, when a new VVPAT machine is received, the district election officer carries out a ‘first level check’. If any fault is identified, within seven days the machine is returned to the manufacturer for repairs in coordination with the chief election officer concerned. In this case, the Election Commission itself decided in 2021 that these machines must be repaired and sent instructions to all states and Union Territories, except Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep,and Daman and Diu,” Khera said.

Complaining that political parties were not informed in detail about the reason for these machines being recalled, Khera said: “Our ground-level workers tell us that they were informed that this activity is being carried out as general procedure by election officials. We have only realised the scale of the issue after media reports, rather than being informed by the EC.”

The Congress reeled out several questions: “Has the EC been able to identify the exact defects being observed in the VVPAT machines? If yes, then has the EC rectified all the defects which have been identified? Why has the rectification and identification of defects in VVPAT machines been delayed since the order to collect was issued in 2021? Has the EC been able to identify all the machines where the defects have been reported, i.e., have all the VVPAT machines been tested for defects?”

Khera continued: “Why were the defects not detected at the first-level checks, which are in place for VVPAT machines? Has the EC sought any report from the DEO and CEO who were in charge of these particular machines, which have been declared defective? What additional safeguards is the EC planning to put in force in order to prevent similar incidents in the future which have far-reaching consequences on the elections? In view of the present issues raised in respect of the functioning of VVPAT machines, will the EC continue the use of these machines in any upcoming elections?”

Pre-empting arguments from the BJP and the media that the Opposition is also winning elections with the same EVMs and VVPAT machines, Khera said: “The faith, trust and confidence of every Indian in the process of our election is integral to our democracy. It is key not only to our image as the world’s largest democracy but also in giving every citizen a voice — a power to influence the policies of the government.

“Today, the Narendra Modi government is suppressing debate in Parliament, misusing law and order agencies against the Opposition, activists and journalists, putting pressure on the judiciary, and intimidating the media. At such a critical time, the power of the vote is even more precious and no doubts should be allowed to linger around it.”

Response

An EC official who sought anonymity said that a technical analysis after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls recommended the replacement of the M2 model of VVPATs with the M3 generation.

“On the basis of said analysis and suggested corrective action, work of T1-T4 (tasks 1 to 4 or various tasks) rectification was initiated. The VVPATs falling in these categories were ordered to be sent to manufacturers for preventive maintenance,” the official said in a message.

“Since there is an overlapping of T1, T2, T3 or T4 tasks in several VVPATs -- i.e. one machine may have multiple tasks -- the individual numbers under each task are not to be added.... The actual number of VVPATs to be moved for preventive maintenance is 3.43 lakh, as per an Election Commission of India circular dated January 27, 2022. ”